Av'o-cā'tion, n.

n. [Lat. avocatio.]

1. The act of calling aside, or diverting from some employment. “Blessed impulses to duty, and powerful avocations from sin.” South.
2. The business which calls aside.

Visits, business, cards, and I know not how many other avocations . . . do succeed one another so thick, that in the day there is no time left for the distracted person to converse with his own thoughts. Boyle. ☞ The word is generally used for the smaller affairs of life, or occasional calls which summon a person to leave his ordinary or principal business. The use of this word for vocation is very improper.