Invoked

Invoked is the past participle of invoke. In general usage, invoke means to call upon something for assistance or support, to appeal to a principle or authority as justification, or to cause a mechanism, process, or function to operate. When something is invoked, it is activated or brought into effect.

In religious and spiritual contexts, to invoke typically means to call upon a deity, spirit, or sacred presence, often through prayer, ritual, or incantation. The term can also be used more broadly to mean recalling or appealing to a presence or source of power or guidance.

In law and policy, invoking a right, clause, or remedy means exercising or triggering it. Examples include invoking the right to silence, invoking emergency powers, or invoking a contractual clause as a basis for action.

In computing and technology, invocation refers to the act of requesting the execution of a function, method, procedure, or service. Software systems may support direct invocation of APIs or remote services, and programming languages distinguish between calling (invoking) a function and other forms of execution. The noun “invocation” is often used to describe the actual call or the process of calling a procedure.

Etymology and usage notes: invoke derives from Latin invocare, from in- “upon” + vocare “to call.” The term is widely used across disciplines to denote summoning, activating, or appealing to support, authority, or function.