Invitation

//ɪn.vɪˈteɪ.ʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of inviting; solicitation; the requesting of a person's company. countable, uncountable

    "an invitation to a party, to a dinner, or to visit a friend"

  2. 2
    a tempting allurement wordnet
  3. 3
    A document or verbal message conveying an invitation. countable, uncountable

    "We need to print off fifty invitations for the party."

  4. 4
    a request (spoken or written) to participate or be present or take part in something wordnet
  5. 5
    Allurement; enticement. countable, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    A line that is intentionally left open to encourage the opponent to attack. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    The brief exhortation introducing the confession in the Anglican communion-office. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    A bid that tells one's partner that game or slam is likely if their hand is at the strong end of what they have indicated. countable, uncountable

    "I assume also that opener would have shown no interest in slam by either bidding 4NT or 50 after the slam invitation of 46."

Synonyms

All synonyms
advanceagacerieallureallurementappealapproach

Example

More examples

"Say what you will, he won't accept your invitation."

Etymology

From Middle English invitacioun, ynvytacioun, from Latin invītātio, reinforced by Middle French invitation. By surface analysis, invite + -ation. Displaced native Middle English lathinge from Old English laþung (see dialectal English lathing).

Related phrases

do you need an invitatione-invitationinvitation envelopeopen invitationguest listinviting thingon paperparty envelopeparty noticeparty requestplease comewedding notice

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.