subpoena

See also: subpœna

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

First attested with this spelling in 1623 CE, from earlier subpena, from Middle English sub pena, from Medieval Latin: sub (“under”) and poena (“penalty”), the beginning of the original subpoena used in the Court of Chancery.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /səˈpiːnə/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːnə

Noun

subpoena (plural subpoenas or subpoenae or subpoenæ)

  1. (law, historical) A writ requiring a defendant to appear in court to answer a plaintiff's claim.
  2. (law) A writ requiring someone to appear in court to give testimony.

Usage notes

The most common plural form is subpoenas.[1] Subpoenae is a hypercorrection as the word is not derived from a Latin noun *subpœna, *subpœnæ, but from the Latin phrase sub pœna, and therefore has no Latinate plural.[2]

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To summon with a subpoena.
    • 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 10, in Billy Budd‎, London: Constable & Co.:
      Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?

Translations

See also

References
  1. R. W. Burchfield (1998) Fowler's modern English usage‎, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 748: “Pl. subpoenas”
  2. Bryan Garner (2013 May 14) “LawProse Lesson #118 | LawProse”, in LawProse‎, retrieved 2022-01-02:
    Why isn’t the plural *subpoenae duces tecum? Subpoena is a singular English noun — it was never a Latin noun. Rather, the English word subpoena derived from the Latin phrase sub poena, meaning “under penalty” or “under pain.” The Oxford English Dictionary dates subpoena from the late 15th century. And the plural subpoenas appears in English law as early as 1509 in the title of a statute “for Subpoenas and Privy Seals.” That’s the only plural until the early 19th century when *subpoenae first appeared — in a misquotation from Coke’s Institutes (Coke actually wrote sub poena). So the false Latin plural *subpoenae is a hypercorrection and, in fact, not a Latin word at all.

Anagrams

French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From English subpoena.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /syb.pe.na/

Noun

subpoena m (plural subpoenas)

  1. (Canadian and US law) subpoena
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