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uperior being; earnest and solemn entreaty; esp., prayer offered to a divine being. Sweet invocation of a child; most pretty and pathetical! Shak. The whole poem is a prayer to Fortune, and the invocation is divided between the two deities. Addison.

lessing, prayer, or kind wishes in favor of any person or thing; a solemn or affectionate invocation of happiness. So saying, he arose; whom Adam thus Followed with benediction. Milton. Homeward serenely she walked with God's benediction upon her. Longfellow. Specifically:

A declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on some or something; a benediction; a wish of happiness pronounces. This is the blessing, where with Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel. Deut. xxxiii. 1.

on is placed in the catalogue (canon) of saints and commended to perpetual veneration and invocation. Canonization of saints was not known to the Christian church titl toward the middle of the tenth century. Hoock.

An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction. Lady, you know no rules of charity, Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses. Shak.

An invocation of, or address to, the Supreme Being.

f the North American Indians, participated in by both sexes, and looked upon as a rite of invocation the purpose of which is, through trance and vision, to bring the dancer into communion with the unseen world and the spirits of departed friends. The dance is the chief rite of the Ghost-dance, or Messiah, religion, whi…

Invocation of evil spirits; witchcraft. [Obs.] Hallywell.

The invocation or worship of saints.

e Vocabulary. -- Hail Mary, a form of prayer made use of in the Roman Catholic Church in invocation of the Virgin. See Ave Maria.

A Hebrew exclamation of praise to the Lord, or an invocation of blessings. "Hosanna to the Highest." Milton. Hosanna to the Son of David. Matt. xxi. 9.

on the part of; by authority; as, it was done in the name of the people; -- often used in invocation, swearing, praying, and the like. -- To be in for it. (a) To be in favor of a thing; to be committed to a course. (b) To be unable to escape from a danger, penalty, etc. [Colloq.] -- To be (or keep) in with. (a) To be…

Making or containing invocation; invoking.

to invite earnestly or solemnly; to summon; to address in prayer; to solicit or demand by invocation; to implore; as, to invoke the Supreme Being, or to invoke His and blessing. Go, my dread lord, to your great grandsire's tomb, . . . Invoke his warlike spirit. Shak.

ture to produce effects apparently supernatural. -- Superstitious, or Geotic, magic, the invocation of devils or demons, involving the supposition of some tacit or express agreement between them and human beings.

A prayer; an invocation; a religious formula; a charm. [India]

n religious rites, -- orig. among the Hindus an exclamation of assent, like Amen, then an invocation, and later a symbol of the trinity formed by Vishnu, Siva, and Brahma. -- Om mani padme hun, a sacred formula of buddhism (esp. of the Lamaists) translated "O, the Jewel in the Lotus, Amen," and referring to Amitabha, w…

To the account of; -- denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon; as, on us be all the blame; a curse on him. His blood be on us and on our children. Matt. xxvii. 25.

Expression of desire; request; petition; hence, invocation or imprecation. Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish. Shak.