Call

How to spell call

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce call

What does call mean?

1. verbTo contact someone by telephone, to summon them, or to give something a name.
2. nounA telephone conversation, a shout, or a decision or judgement.

Call in a sentence

• verb

  Please call the office before noon to confirm the booking.

• noun

  She missed an important call while she was in the meeting.

• verb

  They decided to call the new puppy Biscuit.

• noun

  Benching the injured player was a tough call for the coach.

Where does call come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This word comes from the Old Norse verb kalla, which meant 'to cry out' or 'to summon loudly', and it entered English during the period of Norse settlement in the early medieval north and east of the country. Old English already had a related form, ceallian, but the modern shape and the strength of its use owe most to the Norse influence carried by Viking settlers. The root traces further back to an ancient Germanic source meaning 'to shout' or 'to speak loudly', and the same family produced words for noise and chatter in other northern languages. Over the centuries the sense broadened from raising one's voice to naming a person or thing, summoning someone, and eventually to telephoning. The plain double-l spelling has stayed remarkably stable, which is why this short word rarely gives writers any trouble.

How the word is built

• call (whole word, from Old Norse kalla: to cry out, summon)