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.