Wiktionary

subpoena

See also: subpœna

English

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WOTD – 1 November 2024

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *upó
    Proto-Italic *supo
    Medieval Latin subbor.
    Proto-Indo-European *kʷey-
    Proto-Indo-European *-nós
    Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂
    Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ)bor.
    Medieval Latin poenabor.
    Middle English sub pena
    English 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”),[1] from Latin sub (“under”) + poena (“penalty, punishment”), from the opening words of the writ.[2][3] The verb sense is derived from the noun one.[4][5]

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    subpoena (plural subpoenas or subpoenae or subpoenæ)

     
    A subpoena (sense 1) sent to Richard Nixon, requiring him to testify at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in response to the Watergate scandal.
    2. (law) 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.
      Synonyms: (UK) witness summons, (Singapore) order to attend court
      Hyponyms: subpoena duces tecum, subpoena ad testificandum
      • 1612 (date written), Tho: 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 Tho: Overburye. Being a Most Exquisite and Singular Poem of the Choise of a Wife. […], 4th edition, London: […] G[eorge] Eld, for Lawrence Lisle, […], published 1614, →OCLC:
        Nothing vnder a Sub-pœna can dravv him to London, and vvhen he is there, hee ſtickes faſt vppon euery Obiect, caſts his eyes avvay vppon gazing, and becomes the prey of euery cut-purſe.
      • 1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 181:
        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 his conference with David.
      • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Which is All about the Law, and Sundry Great Authorities Learned therein”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, pages 318–319:
        "Samuel Weller?" said Mr. Jackson, enquiringly. "Vun o' the truest things as you've said for many a long year," replied Sam, in a most composed manner. "Here's a subpœna for you, Mr. Weller," said Jackson. […] Mr. Jackson seemed rather puzzled by Sam's proceedings; but, as he had served the subpœnas, and had nothing more to say, he made a feint of putting on the one glove which he usually carried in his hand, for the sake of appearances; and returned to the office to report progress.
      • 2016 October 26, David Moye, “Trevor Noah: If Trump is Elected, He’ll Wage ‘Warsuits’”, in Huffington Post‎[2], New York, N.Y.: Verizon Media:
        "He won't be waging wars all the world – he'll be waging 'warsuits,'" Noah said. "Droning people with subpoenas all over the globe."
      • 2019 May 7, Nicholas Fandos, Charlie Savage, Catie Edmondson, Maggie Haberman, quoting Stephen Elliott Boyd, “Justice Dept. threatens House Democrats over contempt in Barr battle”, in The New York Times‎[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-13:
        I hereby request that the committee hold the subpoena in abeyance and delay any vote on whether to recommend a citation of contempt for noncompliance with the subpoena, pending the president's determination of this question.
    3. (historical, law) 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.
      • 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:
        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 ſurety by recognizance to proſecute with effect the matters of the Bill only, and to anſwer dammages if the ſame fall out againſt the Plaintiff.
      • 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:
        [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.
      • 1875 March 25 (first performance), W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, librettist; Arthur Sullivan, composer, Trial by Jury. A Novel and Original Dramatic Cantata, London: Walter Smith, […], published 1875, →OCLC, page 3:
        For to-day in this arena, / Summoned by a stern subpœna, / Edwin, sued by Angelina— / Shortly will appear.
    4. (figurative) A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.

    Usage notes

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    • The most common plural form is subpoenas.[6] Subpoenae is a hypercorrection as the word is not derived from a Latin noun *subpœna but from the Latin phrase sub pœna, and therefore has no Latinate plural.[7]
    • Sense 1 (“writ requiring someone to appear in court or at some other legal proceeding to give testimony or to produce evidence”) is no longer used in the United Kingdom and Singapore, having been replaced by witness summons and order to attend court in order to make legal matters more understandable to laypersons.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    Verb

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

    1. (law) 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).
      Hyponym: compel testimony
      • 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 It? (Collection of British Authors; CCCCXL), Tauchnitz edition, volume III, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, →OCLC, book VII, page 276:
        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 April 1, Herman Melville, “Renewal of Old Acquaintance”, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, New York, N.Y.: Dix, Edwards & Co., […], →OCLC, page 32:
        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.
      • 1860, Sanford M[oon] Green, “Commencement of Actions; and Proceedings on Both Sides to the Defendant‘s Appearance, Inclusive”, in A Treatise on the Practice of the Circuit Courts of the State of Michigan; […], Detroit, Mich.: S. D. Elwood, […], →OCLC, § 137, page 41:
        Witnesses, duly and in good faith, subpœnaed to attend any court, officer, commissioner, auditors or referees, or summoned to attend any judge, officer, or commissioner, in any cse where there attendance may, by law, be enforced by attachment or warrant, are exonerated from arrest in any civil suit, while going to the place where they are required to attend, while remaining in attendance as such witnesses, and while returning therefrom.
      • 1875, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “‘What, then, You Knew Not this Red Work Indeed?’”, in A Strange World […], volume I, London: John Maxwell and Co. […], →OCLC, page 181:
        Mr. Elgood and his daughter were both subpœnaed for the adjourned inquest.
      • 1908, Stanley B[ean] Atkinson, “Medical Evidence and Medical Witnesses”, in The Law in General Practice: Some Chapters in Every-day Forensic Medicine, London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press; Hodder & Stoughton […], →OCLC, page 29:
        Volunteer no private information and express no opinion in public, especially in the Press, concerning medico-legal causes with which you are or are not personally concerned; otherwise you may be subpoenaed to support your published views without having seen previously the statements of claim or of defence.
      • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter X.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, page 255:
        [H]ave our juries at times not only to ensure the prolonged contentions of lawyers with their fees, but also the yet more perplexing strife of the medical experts with theirs? But why leave it to them? Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients? Their vocation bringing them into peculiar contact with so many human beings, and sometimes in their least guarded hour, in interviews very much more confidential than those of physician and patient; this would seem to qualify them to know something about those intricacies involved in the question of moral responsibility; […]
      • 1942 May–June, “U.S.A. Pullman Monopoly Opposed”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 130:
        The Federal Government subpœnaed over fifty witnesses, but many of these were relieved of testifying by the submission of documents.
    2. (law) To require (a document or other evidence) to be produced before a court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding.
    3. (figurative) To compel or summon (someone or something); to demand.

    Translations

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    See also

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    References

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    1. ^ “sub-pēna, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
    2. ^ “subpoena, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2024.
    3. ^ “subpoena, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
    4. ^ “subpoena, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
    5. ^ “subpoena, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
    6. ^ R[obert] W[illiam] Burchfield (1998) Fowler’s Modern English Usage, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 748.
    7. ^ Bryan A[ndrew] Garner (2013 May 14) “LawProse Lesson #118”, in LawProse‎[1], archived from the original on 2024-02-28:
      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.

    Further reading

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    Anagrams

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    French

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    French Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia fr

    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English subpoena.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    subpoena m (plural subpoenas)

    1. (Canada and US law) subpoena
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