What does revoke mean?
Revoke means to formally withdraw, cancel, or invalidate something that has been granted. The word is especially associated with official decisions and permissions, such as licences, permits, appointments, privileges, and authorisations. A government or regulator may revoke a licence, while a court may revoke an order or rule that was made earlier. The verb has a formal, authoritative tone and suggests that a recognised authority is exercising its power to undo a previous grant or decision. In some contexts it also means to withdraw consent or make a legal document ineffective. Revoke is related in meaning to cancel, annul, rescind, and repeal, but it is usually more specific and more closely connected to an official act. Its Latin origin, revocare, literally meant “call back,” reflecting the original idea of summoning or recalling something that had been granted.
To withdraw, cancel, or invalidate an authorisation, privilege, appointment, or other official grant.
"The committee revoked the researcher's access to the restricted archive."
Usually used when an authority or institution withdraws a permission or status that it previously granted.
To make a legal instrument, decision, or authorisation ineffective by withdrawing or annulling it.
"The court revoked the order after an application from the defendant's lawyer."
This use is formal and common in legal and administrative contexts.
From the Latin for “call back,” revoke originally meant to summon someone back before it came to mean taking authority back.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does revoke come from?
Revoke comes from Latin revocare, formed from re- (“back” or “again”) and vocare (“call”), meaning “call back” or “summon back.” In English, the word developed from the sense of recalling or withdrawing a grant, decision, or permission. The same Latin root appears in cognates including evoke, provoke, vocation, and vocal.
Related word forms
How revoke is actually used
Revoke is especially common in legal, governmental, regulatory, and institutional contexts. It is more formal than cancel and often implies an act of official authority; revoke is also used in older or formal expressions such as revoking a will.
Easily confused with revoke
Revoke means to withdraw or cancel a permission or official status; evoke means to bring an idea, feeling, or memory into the mind.
Revoke can withdraw an authorisation or legal right, whereas repeal generally means to formally cancel a law or rule through the authority empowered to do so.