Adjacent Words

Calling definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CALLING, n.
1. A naming, or inviting; a reading over or reciting in order, or a call of names with a view to obtain an answer, as in legislative bodies.
2. Vocation; profession; trade; usual occupation, or employment.
Pope. Swift. 1 Cor
7:20
3. Class of persons engaged in any profession or employment.
4. Divine summons, vocation, or invitation.
Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. 2 Peter 1.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the particular occupation for which you are trained [syn: career, calling, vocation]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence 2. the vocation or profession in which one customarily engages 3. the characteristic cry of a female cat in heat; also the period of heat Synonyms: see work

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a profession or occupation. 2 an inwardly felt call or summons; a vocation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Call Call (k[add]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Called (k[add]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Calling] [OE. callen, AS. ceallian; akin to Icel. & Sw. kalla, Dan. kalde, D. kallen to talk, prate, OHG. kall[=o]n to call; cf. Gr. ghry`ein to speak, sing, Skr. gar to praise. Cf. Garrulous.] 1. To command or request to come or be present; to summon; as, to call a servant. Call hither Clifford; bid him come amain --Shak. 2. To summon to the discharge of a particular duty; to designate for an office, or employment, especially of a religious character; -- often used of a divine summons; as, to be called to the ministry; sometimes, to invite; as, to call a minister to be the pastor of a church. Paul . . . called to be an apostle --Rom. i. 1. The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. --Acts xiii. 2. 3. To invite or command to meet; to convoke; -- often with together; as, the President called Congress together; to appoint and summon; as, to call a meeting of the Board of Aldermen. Now call we our high court of Parliament. --Shak. 4. To give name to; to name; to address, or speak of, by a specifed name. If you would but call me Rosalind. --Shak. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. --Gen. i. 5. 5. To regard or characterize as of a certain kind; to denominate; to designate. What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. --Acts x. 15. 6. To state, or estimate, approximately or loosely; to characterize without strict regard to fact; as, they call the distance ten miles; he called it a full day's work. [The] army is called seven hundred thousand men. --Brougham. 7. To show or disclose the class, character, or nationality of. [Obs.] This speech calls him Spaniard. --Beau. & Fl. 8. To utter in a loud or distinct voice; -- often with off; as, to call, or call off, the items of an account; to call the roll of a military company. No parish clerk who calls the psalm so clear. --Gay. 9. To invoke; to appeal to. I call God for a witness. --2 Cor. i. 23 [Rev. Ver. ] 10. To rouse from sleep; to awaken. If thou canst awake by four o' the clock. I prithee call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly. --Shak. To call a bond, to give notice that the amount of the bond will be paid. To call a party (Law), to cry aloud his name in open court, and command him to come in and perform some duty requiring his presence at the time on pain of what may befall him. To call back, to revoke or retract; to recall; to summon back. To call down, to pray for, as blessing or curses. To call forth, to bring or summon to action; as, to call forth all the faculties of the mind. To call in, (a) To collect; as, to call in debts or money; ar to withdraw from cirulation; as, to call in uncurrent coin. (b) To summon to one's side; to invite to come together; as, to call in neighbors. To call (any one) names, to apply contemptuous names (to any one). To call off, to summon away; to divert; as, to call off the attention; to call off workmen from their employment. To call out. (a) To summon to fight; to challenge. (b) To summon into service; as, to call out the militia. To call over, to recite separate particulars in order, as a roll of names. To call to account, to demand explanation of. To call to mind, to recollect; to revive in memory. To call to order, to request to come to order; as: (a) A public meeting, when opening it for business. (b) A person, when he is transgressing the rules of debate. To call to the bar, to admit to practice in courts of law. To call up. (a) To bring into view or recollection; as to call up the image of deceased friend. (b) To bring into action or discussion; to demand the consideration of; as, to call up a bill before a legislative body. Syn: To name; denominate; invite; bid; summon; convoke; assemble; collect; exhort; warn; proclaim; invoke; appeal to; designate. Usage: To Call, Convoke, Summon. Call is the generic term; as, to call a public meeting. To convoke is to require the assembling of some organized body of men by an act of authority; as, the king convoked Parliament. To summon is to require attendance by an act more or less stringent anthority; as, to summon a witness.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Calling Call"ing, n. 1. The act of one who calls; a crying aloud, esp. in order to summon, or to attact the attention of, some one. 2. A summoning or convocation, as of Parliament. The frequent calling and meeting of Parlaiment. --Macaulay. 3. A divine summons or invitation; also, the state of being divinely called. Who hath . . . called us with an holy calling. --2 Tim. i. 9. Give diligence to make yior calling . . . sure. --2 Pet. i. 10. 4. A naming, or inviting; a reading over or reciting in order, or a call of names with a view to obtaining an answer, as in legislative bodies. 5. One's usual occupation, or employment; vocation; business; trade. The humble calling of ter female parent. --Thackeray. 6. The persons, collectively, engaged in any particular professions or employment. To impose celibacy on wholy callings. --Hammond. 7. Title; appellation; name. [Obs.] I am more proud to be Sir Rowland's son His youngest son, and would not change that calling. --Shak. Syn: Occupation; employment; business; trade; profession; office; engagement; vocation.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(callings) A calling is a profession or career which someone is strongly attracted to, especially one which involves helping other people. He was a consultant physician, a serious man dedicated to his calling. = vocation N-COUNT: usu sing

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a profession, or as we usually say, a vocation (1 Cor. 7:20). The "hope of your calling" in Eph. 4:4 is the hope resulting from your being called into the kingdom of God.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kol'-ing (klesis, from kaleo, "I call"): Is a New Testament expression. The word is used chiefly by Paul, though the idea and term are found also elsewhere. It has a definite, technical sense, the invitation given to men by God to accept salvation in His kingdom through Jesus Christ. This invitation is given outwardly by the preaching of the gospel, inwardly by the work of the Holy Spirit. With reference to Israel, it is on the part of God irrevocable, not repented of. Having in His eternal counsel called this people, He entrusted them with great gifts, and because He did thus enrich them, He also, in the course of time, summoned them to fulfill the task of initiating the world into the way of salvation, and of preparing salvation for the world. Therefore, He will not desert His people, for He Will not revoke that call (Ro 11:29). This calling is high or upward, in Christ, that is, made in heaven by God on account of Christ and calling man to heaven (Php 3:14). Similarly it is a heavenly calling (Heb 3:1); also a holy calling, holy in aim, means, and end (2Ti 1:9). Christians are urged to walk worthy of this calling (Eph 4:1) (the American Standard Revised Version and the Revised Version (British and American), but the King James Version has "vocation"). In it there is hope; it is the inspirer of hope, and furnishes for hope its supreme object (Eph 4:4). Men are exhorted so to live that God will count them worthy of their calling (2Th 1:11). They are also urged to make their calling and election sure (2Pe 1:10). See ELECTION. There is a somewhat peculiar use of the word in 1Co 1:26 and 1Co 7:20, namely, that condition of life in which men were when God called them, not many of them wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, some circumcised, some uncircumcised, some bond, some free, some male, some female, some married, some unmarried.

George Henry Trever

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Occupation, business, profession, pursuit, trade, craft, employment, vocation, avocation, walk of life.

Moby Thesaurus

ambition, apostolic orders, appellation, appointment, area, art, aspiration, baptism, basis, beck, beck and call, bid, biddance, bidding, business, call, calling forth, canonization, career, career building, careerism, cause, christening, conferment, consecration, consideration, convocation, craft, definition, denomination, designation, election, employment, engraved invitation, evocation, game, goal, ground, guiding light, guiding star, handicraft, holy orders, ideal, identification, indent, induction, inspiration, installation, institution, intention, investiture, invitation, invite, invocation, job, lifework, line, line of business, line of work, lodestar, mainspring, major orders, matter, metier, minor orders, mission, motive, mystery, naming, nicknaming, nod, nomination, number, occupation, ordainment, orders, ordination, practice, preconization, preferment, presentation, principle, profession, province, pursuit, racket, reading in, reason, requisition, sake, score, source, specialization, specialty, spring, styling, summons, terming, trade, ulterior motive, vocation, walk, walk of life, work