subpoena

CEFRC1

/sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An official order requiring someone to attend court or provide evidence.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.

Examples

  • Valve received a subpoena from Apple.

  • Why doesn't he subpoena them?

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /səˈpi.nə/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A writ requiring a defendant to appear in court to answer a plaintiff's claim (a subpoena ad respondendum); in England and Wales, and Ireland, this writ was formerly issued by the Court of Chancery at the plaintiff's request to commence a suit, but the proced...

  2. A writ (“written order”) requiring someone to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding, as a witness to give testimony (a subpoena ad testificandum) or to produce evidence (subpoena duces tecum), in default of which the person may be punished.

  3. A writ requiring a defendant to appear in court to answer a plaintiff's claim (a subpoena ad respondendum); in England and Wales, and Ireland, this writ was formerly issued by the Court of Chancery at the plaintiff's request to commence a suit, but the procedure was abolished in 1852.

More examples

In context

  • Why would they subpoena you?

  • Nothing vnder a Sub-pœna can dravv him to London, and vvhen hee is there, hee ſtickes faſt vppon euery obiect, caſts his eyes avvay vpon gazing, and becomes the prey of euery cut-purſe.

  • In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the department accused Democrats of being unreasonable in subpoenaing that material.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The court issued a blank requiring the witness to testify next week.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Medieval Latin poenabor. Middle English sub pena English subpoena The noun sense is derived from Late Middle English sub pena (“writ requiring defendant to appear in the Court of Chancery to answer a plaintiff’s claim or to be punished; writ requiring witness to appear in court”), from Latin sub (“under”) + poena (“penalty, punishment”), from the opening words of the writ. The verb sense is derived from the noun one.