subpoena

Syllables: sub·poe·na/sə(b)ˈpiː.nə//sə(b)ˈpi.nə/

subpoena noun: 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.

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Noun

subpoena (plural subpoenas or subpoenae or subpoenæ)

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.
- 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.1612 (date written), Thomas Overburye [i.e. Thomas Overbury], “Characters, or Witty Descriptions of the Properties of Sundry Persons. A Country Gentleman.”, in A Wife Now the Widdow of Sir Thomas...
- For the worthy magistrate, determined to omit no chance of doing Effie justice, and to leave her sister no apology for not giving the evidence which she was supposed to possess, had caused the ordinary citation, or sub-pœna, of the Scottish criminal court, to be served upon her by an officer during...1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and...
Synonyms:

witness summons, order to attend court, citation, invocation, summons, writ of summons
(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.
- No man to be called by Privy Seal or Subpœna to anſwer any matters but ſuch as have no remedy by the Common law, and that to appear ſo by the teſtimony of two Juſtices of either Bench, and by Indenture between them and the Plaintiff, which Plaintiff ſhall always appear in proper perſon, and find...1644, Edw[ard] Coke, “The Court of Chancery”, in The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England. […], London: […] M[iles] Flesher, for W[illiam] Lee, and D[aniel] Pakeman, →OCLC, page 83
- [I]f the defendant, on ſervice of the ſubpoena, does not appear vvithin the time limited by the rules of the court, and plead, demur, or anſvver to the bill, he is then ſaid to be in contempt; and the reſpective proceſſes of contempt are in ſucceſſive order avvarded againſt him.1768, William Blackstone, “Of Proceedings in the Courts of Equity”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book III (Of Private Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 443
(figuratively) A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.
- Your meetings cal'd the Ball, to vvhich appeare, / As to the Court of Pleaſure, all your gallants, / And Ladies thither bound by a Subpena / Of Venus, […]1635 October 25 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), James Shirly [i.e., James Shirley], The Lady of Pleasure. A Comedie, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes for Andrew Crooke, and William Cooke...

Verb

subpoena (third-person singular simple present subpoenas, present participle subpoenaing, simple past and past participle subpoenaed)

(transitive) To summon (someone) with a subpoena (noun sense 1) to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding, as a witness to give testimony or to produce evidence; to serve a subpoena on (someone).
- Poor Willy! he would not even subpœna any of his old friends as to his general character. But even if he had, what could the Court do since he pleaded guilty?1857, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “Containing Much of that Information which the Wisest Men in the World Could Not Give but which the Author Can”, in What will He Do with...
- I am just reminded that the president, who is also transfer-agent, of the Black Rapids Coal Company, happens to be on board here, and, having been subpœnaed as witness in a stock case on the docket in Kentucky, has his transfer-book with him.1857 April 1, Herman Melville, “Renewal of Old Acquaintance”, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, New York, N.Y.: Dix, Edwards & Co., […], →OCLC, page 32
(transitive) To require (a document or other evidence) to be produced before a court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding.
- I have just recollected that you ought to have sub-pœnaᵈ in Goodwins & Thomass cases Goodwins comes on the second monday in October. You must send up for them.1821 September 11, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, “[Letter from] Thomas Jefferson Randolph to Wilson Cary Nicholas (ca. 1796–1828)”, in Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters, Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas...
- In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the department accused Democrats of being unreasonable in subpoenaing that material.2019 May 7, Nicholas Fandos, Charlie Savage, Catie Edmondson, Maggie Haberman, “Justice Dept. threatens House Democrats over contempt in Barr battle”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New...
(figuratively, transitive) To compel or summon (someone or something); to demand.
- We wish to subpœna the public to our characters.1815 January – 1817 January, William Hazlitt, “No. XXXIII. On Different Sorts of Fame.”, in William Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, The Round Table: A Collection of Essays on Literature, Men, and Manners...

subpoena meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Arabic

subpoena in Tamil

நீதிமன்ற அழைப்பாணை, முறை மன்ற அழைப்பு ஆணை, வரவழைப்பாணை

subpoena in Urdu

سمن, عدالتی بلاوا, چالان جاری کرنا

subpoena in Bengali

আদালতের সমন, সাক্ষ্য দেওয়ার নির্দেশ

subpoena in Arabic

writ requiring someone to appear in court or at some other legal proceeding as a witness: اِسْتِدْعَاء istidʕāʔ

More languagesFewer languages

subpoena in Malay: sepina
subpoena in Vietnamese: trát tòa

Examples of subpoena in a sentence

"Droning people with subpoenas all over the globe."2016 October 26, David Moye, “Trevor Noah: If Trump is Elected, He’ll Wage ‘Warsuits’”, in Huffington Post, New York, N.Y.: Verizon Media:
Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter X.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951...

All 15 example sentences with subpoena

Synonyms of subpoena

witness summons
order to attend court
citation
invocation
summons
writ of summons

All synonyms of subpoena

Forms of subpoena

Noun
plural	subpoenas
plural	subpoenae
plural	subpoenæ
alternative form (dated)	subpena
alternative form (archaic)	subpœna
Verb
third-person singular present	subpoenas
present participle	subpoenaing
past participle	subpoenaed
past	subpoenaed

Past tense of subpoena: subpoenaed

Plural of subpoena: subpoenas or subpoenae

Origin of 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.

Words formed from subpoena

Words that rhyme with subpoena

37 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about subpoena

What does subpoena mean?: Subpoena means 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.
What is subpoena in Tamil?: Subpoena in Tamil is நீதிமன்ற அழைப்பாணை, முறை மன்ற அழைப்பு ஆணை, வரவழைப்பாணை. See Subpoena meaning in Tamil.
How do you use subpoena in a sentence?: "Droning people with subpoenas all over the globe."
What part of speech is subpoena?: Subpoena can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce subpoena?: Subpoena is pronounced /sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/ (UK).
What is the plural of subpoena?: The plural of subpoena is subpoenas.

Words near subpoena in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: subpoena (page history and authors); subpoena (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subpoena (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subpoena (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-subpoena.wav, en-us-subpoena.ogg.

Cite this entry: “subpoena.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subpoena. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.