provoke

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Middle French provoquer, from Old French, from Latin prōvocāre. Doublet of provocate.

PronunciationEdit

(UK) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈvəʊk/
(US) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈvoʊk/
Rhymes: -əʊk
Audio (US) (file)

VerbEdit

provoke (third-person singular simple present provokes, present participle provoking, simple past and past participle provoked)

(transitive) To cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
- 1577, William Harrison, “The Historie of Englande”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC, page 26, columns 1–2:
  In the meane time it chaunced, that Marcus Papyrius ſtroke one of the Galles on the heade with his ſtaffe, because he preſumed to ſtroke his bearde: with whiche iniurie the Gaulle beeing prouoked, ſlue Papyrius (as he ſate) with hys ſworde, and therewith the ſlaughter being begun with one, all the reſidue of thoſe auncient fatherly men as they ſat in theyr Chayres were ſlaine and cruelly murthered.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 6:4:
  
  Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
(transitive) To bring about a reaction.
- 1881, John Burroughs, Pepacton:
  To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.
- 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:
  Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.
(obsolete) To appeal.
- [1682], [John] Dryden, Religio Laici or A Laymans Faith. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
  Even Arius and Pelagius durst provoke
  To what the centuries preceding spoke.

SynonymsEdit

(To cause to become annoyed or angry): harass
(bring about a reaction): bring about, discompose, egg on, engender, evoke, grill, incite, induce, inflame, instigate, invoke, rouse, set off, stir up, whip up; see also Thesaurus:incite

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

to cause to become angry

Arabic: اِسْتَفَزَّ‎ (istafazza)
Bulgarian: провокирам (bg) (provokiram)
Catalan: provocar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 挑釁／挑衅 (zh) (tiǎoxìn), 扇動／扇动 (zh) (shāndòng), 激怒 (zh) (jīnù), 激起 (zh) (jīqǐ), 刺激 (zh) (cìjī)
Czech: dráždit (cs)
Danish: provokere
Dutch: uitlokken (nl)
Esperanto: provoki
Finnish: suututtaa (fi), provosoida (fi)
French: provoquer (fr)
German: provozieren (de), aufreizen (de), aufwühlen (de), aufhetzen (de), aufpeitschen, aufstacheln (de)
Greek: εξοργίζω (el) (exorgízo), εξάπτω (el) (exápto)
Ancient: ἐρεθίζω (erethízō)
Hungarian: provokál (hu)
Icelandic: ergja, skaprauna
Italian: provocare (it)
Japanese: 怒らせる (いからせる, ikaraseru), 立腹させる (ja) (りっぷくさせる, rippaku-saseru), 憤慨させる (ja) (ふんがいさせる, fungai-saseru)
Khmer: បង្ក (km) (bɑngkɑɑ)
Latin: lacessō, prōvocō
Latvian: provocēt
Maori: raparapa, makitohene, māreherehe, whakatenetene, whakapātaritari, mukākā, kōtara
Middle English: forthcallen
Norwegian: provosere (no)
Persian: افژولیدن‎ (fa) (afžulidan)
Polish: prowokować (pl) impf, sprowokować (pl) pf, podjudzać impf, drażnić (pl) impf
Portuguese: provocar (pt), irritar (pt)
Russian: провоци́ровать (ru) impf (provocírovatʹ), спровоци́ровать (ru) pf (sprovocírovatʹ), серди́ть (ru) impf (serdítʹ), рассерди́ть (ru) pf (rasserdítʹ)
Spanish: provocar (es)
Swedish: provocera (sv)
Tagalog: mang-udyok
Tuvaluan: fakaoso
Ukrainian: провокува́ти impf (provokuváty), спровокува́ти pf (sprovokuváty)
Urdu: مشتعل‎ (muštaēl)

to bring about a reaction

Bulgarian: предизвиквам (bg) (predizvikvam)
Finnish: provosoida (fi)
German: hervorrufen (de), hervorbringen (de), zeitigen (de), anerzeugen, anerschaffen
Italian: generare (it)
Latvian: provocēt
Maori: whakakārangirangi, pātaritari, taunanawe, whakapātaritari, whakatari, whakataritari, makitohene, mukākā
Spanish: provocar (es)
Ukrainian: провокува́ти impf (provokuváty), спровокува́ти pf (sprovokuváty)
Urdu: مشتعل کرنا‎ (muštaēl kerna), مشتعل‎ (muštaēl)

TurkishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From French provoqué, past participle of provoquer.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /p(ɯ)ɾo.voˈce/
Hyphenation: pro‧vo‧ke

AdjectiveEdit

provoke

provoked