subpoena
A writ requiring someone to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal…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.
» I've been subpoenaed to appear in court.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 sensesA 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.
Auskunftsanordnung, Vorladung, Zwangsvorladung
пове́сткаpovéstka, вы́зов в судvýzov v sud
пові́сткаpovístka
a writ issued by court authority to compel the attendance of a witness at a judicial proceeding; disobedience may be punishable as a contempt of court
(historical)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.
(figuratively)A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.
Examples
16 sentencesI've been subpoenaed to appear in court.
Tom has been subpoenaed to testify against Mary.
Tom has been subpoenaed to appear in court.
Tom has been subpoenaed to testify in a murder case.
Have you ever been subpoenaed to testify in a criminal case?
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
The noun sense is derived from Late Middle English sub pena (“writ requiring defendant toThe 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: subpoenas / subpoenaeSynonyms
8 synonyms- a writ issued by court authority to compel the attendance of a witness at a judicial proceeding; disobedience may be punishable as a contempt of court:subpoena ad testificandum
Word family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.