doggerel

Pronounced: DAH-guhr-uhl (alt: DOG-uhr-uhl), noun

Notes: I don’t know how well known this word is

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Yesterday’s word

The word convoke means “to call together to a meeting”

First usage

Our word came into English in the very late 1500s

Background / Comments

I didn’t know our word, but when I saw the definition, I thought that it was the same as “convene”. And then I started thinking about the two words. Our word comes from con- (with; together) and the Latin verb vocare (to call) – the noun is vox (voice). So our word has the literal meaning given above, but I thought that was what “convene” meant; however, the second part of convene comes from venire (to come), so it is literally “to come together”. So, if people just gather of their own accord, that is properly to convene. When it is a called meeting, it is convoked. I always just used convene, not knowing our word. As I said yesterday – interesting.