2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Avocation  \Av`o*ca"tion\,  n.  [L.  avocatio.] 
  1.  A  calling  away  a  diversion.  [Obs.  or  Archaic] 
 
  Impulses  to  duty,  and  powerful  avocations  from  sin. 
  --South. 
 
  2.  That  which  calls  one  away  from  one's  regular  employment  or 
  vocation. 
 
  Heaven  is  his  vocation,  and  therefore  he  counts 
  earthly  employments  avocations.  --Fuller. 
 
  By  the  secular  cares  and  avocations  which  accompany 
  marriage  the  clergy  have  been  furnished  with  skill 
  in  common  life.  --Atterbury. 
 
  Note:  In  this  sense  the  word  is  applied  to  the  smaller 
  affairs  of  life,  or  occasional  calls  which  summon  a 
  person  to  leave  his  ordinary  or  principal  business. 
  Avocation  (in  the  singular)  for  vocation  is  usually 
  avoided  by  good  writers. 
 
  3.  pl  Pursuits;  duties;  affairs  which  occupy  one's  time; 
  usual  employment;  vocation. 
 
  There  are  professions,  among  the  men,  no  more 
  favorable  to  these  studies  than  the  common 
  avocations  of  women.  --Richardson. 
 
  In  a  few  hours,  above  thirty  thousand  men  left  his 
  standard,  and  returned  to  their  ordinary  avocations. 
  --Macaulay. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  avocation 
  n  :  an  auxiliary  activity  [syn:  {by-line},  {hobby},  {sideline}, 
  {spare-time  activity}] 

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