avocation

Noun

avocation (countable and uncountable, plural avocations)

1. (obsolete) A calling away; a diversion.
   • But though she could neither sleep nor rest in her bed, yet, having no avocation from it, she was found there by her father at his return from Allworthy's, which was not till past ten o'clock in the morning.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
2. A hobby or recreational or leisure pursuit.
   • But yield who will to their separation,
     My object in living is to unite
     My avocation and my vocation
     As my two eyes make one in sight.1934, Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time
   • Gardening is a wholesome avocation that encourages appreciation for nature and concern for the preservation and enhancement of our environment.1986 April 18, Ronald Reagan, Proclamation 5462

   Synonyms:

   amusement, diversion, divertisement, fancy, hobby, kill-time, pastime, pursuit, sport

3. That which calls one away from one's regular employment or vocation.
4. Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment; vocation.
   • I have several things on the anvil, and near finished, that perhaps might be useful, if published: but the continual avocation by business, the impositions on me by impertinent visits, and the uneasiness of writing, which grows more intolerable to me every day, I doubt, will prevent my going any...1711 November 1, William King, Letter to Jonathan Swift
   • [W]hen his other more momentous Avocations of Pedantry and Pedagogiſm vvill give him an Interval from VVrath and Contention, he vvill ſet apart a Moment to conſider humane Nature Deviliz'd, and give us a Mathematical Anatomical Deſcription of it; […]1726, [Daniel Defoe], “Of Satan’s Agents or Missionaries, and Their Actings upon and in the Minds of Men in His Name”, in The Political History of the Devil, as well Ancient as Modern: […], London...
5. The calling of a case from an inferior to a superior court.