vocation

Compared meaning: work seen as suited to someone's life (noun).

比较义项：从事一生的职业，或让人觉得特别适合自己的工作（名词）。

• career

  The neutral, everyday term for the whole sequence of jobs a person holds over a lifetime; it implies no special passion or suitability, and is normally used when talking about a career path, a career ladder, or changing careers.

  这是中性、日常的说法，泛指一个人一生从事的一系列工作；它并不暗示特别的热情或适合，通常也用来谈论职业道路、职业阶梯，或者转行这类话题。

  After her career change, she found accounting far more stable than teaching.

  转行之后，她发现会计工作比教书稳定得多。

• calling

  Suggests a strong, personal, almost emotional pull toward one particular kind of work; more informal and intimate in tone than vocation, and often used with 'find' or 'true calling'.

  强调一种发自内心、近乎情感上的强烈驱动，让人投身某一种工作；语气比 vocation 更口语化、更私人化，常出现在“找到自己的天职”这样的表达里。

  Even as a teenager, she already talked about teaching as her calling.

  还是十几岁的时候，她就已经把教书说成是自己的天职。

• vocation 本词

  A more formal, traditional word for work seen as a duty or form of service, typically professions like teaching, nursing or religious life; unlike the others, it has an adjective form, 'vocational'.

  语气更正式、更传统，指被视为一种责任或奉献形式的工作，常见于教师、护士或宗教相关的职业；而且是三个词中唯一有对应形容词形式的词，可以用来构成“职业教育”“职业培训”等说法。

  Many nurses say their work is a vocation, not simply a paycheck.

  许多护士说，她们的工作是一种天职，而不仅仅是一份薪水。

Career, calling, and vocation can all mean the work someone does. Career is the neutral word for the jobs a person has over a lifetime. Calling and vocation both suggest work that feels right; calling is personal and informal, vocation is more formal.

这三个词都可以表示“职业”，但语气和侧重不同：career 是中性说法，泛指一生从事的一系列工作；calling 和 vocation 都强调“天职”——一种觉得自己特别适合、发自内心的召唤，calling 更口语化、更个人化，vocation 更正式，常用于教师、护士等带有奉献色彩的职业。这里不比较 calling 的“呼喊”义。