subpoena

or sub·pe·na

[ suh-pee-nuh, suhb- ]

noun

1. the usual writ for the summoning of witnesses or the submission of evidence, as records or documents, before a court or other deliberative body.

verb (used with object)

, sub·poe·naed, sub·poe·na·ing.

1. to serve with a subpoena.

subpoena

/ səˈpiːnə; səbˈpiːnə /

noun

1. a writ issued by a court of justice requiring a person to appear before the court at a specified time

verb

1. tr to serve with a subpoena

subpoena

1. An order of a court, a legislature, or a grand jury compelling a witness to be present at a trial or hearing, under penalty of fine or imprisonment. Subpoena is Latin for “under penalty.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of subpoena¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin sub poenā “under penalty” (the first words of the writ)

Word History and Origins

Origin of subpoena¹

C15: from Latin: under penalty

Example Sentences

Earlier in the day, Johnson’s panel voted to authorize subpoenas in its probe targeting former Obama administration officials.

From Washington Post

The new subpoena seeks those documents as well as another ethics opinion provided to Emanuel.

From ProPublica

Intuit produced half a million pages of documents in response to the FTC’s first civil investigative demand — a kind of subpoena — last year.

From ProPublica

A judge last week threw out the president’s lawsuit to block the subpoenas on the grounds that they were too broad.

From Fortune

With subpoenas arriving at NASA and Boeing, we have an idea of how serious this episode might become.

From Quartz

Henry Waxman did subpoena Condoleezza Rice, and she appeared once, in the fall of 2007.

From The Daily Beast

Meanwhile, Wildstein is fighting a subpoena to appear before state legislators on Thursday.

From The Daily Beast

On Wednesday, Airbnb filed a motion in New York State Supreme Court challenging the subpoena.

From The Daily Beast

The House bill, introduced last Thursday, contains strong protection for leakers and probably would have prevented the subpoena.

From The Daily Beast

Republicans, Fox News gloats, want Clinton to testify about Benghazi under subpoena.

From The Daily Beast

There are others who are inclined towards elaborate plots as Sam Weller was to the "'rig'nal" of his subpoena.

From Project Gutenberg

In the interim he bought a ticket, supped, reflected, counted his money and studied the subpoena.

From Project Gutenberg

Saul Aronson's jaw dropped and the subpoena began to burn a hole in his pocket.

From Project Gutenberg

He was not familiar enough with law terms to know the limits of a subpoena's authority.

From Project Gutenberg

When he appeared yesterday before the Grand Jury it was under a subpoena.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cite
• summon