Definitions
Legal order requiring someone to appear or provide evidence.
Word origin
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.
Used in a sentence
“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.”
“"He won't be waging wars all the world – he'll be waging 'warsuits,'" Noah said. "Droning people with subpoenas all over the globe."”
“For to-day in this arena, / Summoned by a stern subpœna, / Edwin, sued by Angelina— / Shortly will appear.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Court summons”8 letters
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