invoking

Invoking, from Latin invocare, is the act of calling forth, appealing to, or activating something. In general usage it denotes triggering a request or command, whether to activate a procedure, prompt a prayer, or summon support. The concept appears across many domains, often centered on bringing an action, power, or authority into effect.

In computing and software, invocation refers to invoking a function, method, or subroutine. This involves transferring control to the callee, passing arguments, and later returning a result. In most programming languages a call or invocation is expressed by a call expression or method call, such as obj.method(args). The runtime may involve dynamic dispatch, stack management, and error handling. In APIs and distributed systems, invoking an endpoint means making a request to a service or library, such as calling a remote procedure or a RESTful API.

Beyond technical uses, invocation also describes religious or ceremonial acts of appealing to a deity, spirit, or muse for aid, blessing, or inspiration. In rhetoric, invoking can mean appealing to authority, tradition, or an exemplary source to bolster an argument. The term thus encompasses both practical activations of commands and more symbolic appeals, unified by the core idea of calling something into action or presence.