Avocation

n.	1.	A calling away; a diversion. 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.
	3.	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. An irregularity and instability of purpose, which makes them choose the wandering avocations of a shepherd, rather than the more fixed pursuits of agriculture. - Buckle.

Noun

1.

avocation - an auxiliary activity Synonyms: hobby, spare-time activity, by-line, sideline

by-line, hobby, interest, pastime, pursuit, sideline, spare-time activity, spelaeology, speleology