summons

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˈsʌmənz/ UK /ˈsʌmənz/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an order to appear before a court or authority

She received a summons to testify in the fraud trial.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an order to appear before a... subpoena citation writ order notice call summon

Word family

Derived forms summonsessummonsed

Related forms summonsummoner

Etymology

From Old French somonse ('summons'), from Vulgar Latin *summonsa, from Latin summonita, feminine past participle of summonere ('to remind privately, hint'), from sub- ('secretly') + monere ('to warn, advise').

somonse Old French summonere Latin monēre Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government

External links

# summons

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈsʌmənz/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsʌmənz/

## Meanings
1. an order to appear before a court or authority

## Examples
- She received a summons to testify in the fraud trial.

## Synonyms
- subpoena
- citation
- writ
- order
- notice
- call
- summon

## Derived Forms
- summonses
- summonsed

## Related Forms
- summon
- summoner

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: somonse
- Root: summonere
- Root: monēre

## Etymology
From Old French somonse ('summons'), from Vulgar Latin *summonsa, from Latin summonita, feminine past participle of summonere ('to remind privately, hint'), from sub- ('secretly') + monere ('to warn, advise').

## AI Etymology
Summons is from Old French somonse ('summons'), from Vulgar Latin *summonsa, from Latin summonita, feminine past participle of summonere ('to remind privately, hint'), from sub- ('secretly') + monere ('to warn, advise'). Important recorded forms include somonse (Old French), summonere (Latin), and monēre (Latin). Morphologically, the sub- element contributes the sense of under, below, secondary status, or movement from beneath, with the base naming the field of application. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers an order to appear before a court or authority. The wider family includes derived forms such as summonses and summonsed and related words such as summon and summoner.

## Topics
- Law & Government

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