subpoenas
noun · verb
Form of subpoena , plural of subpoena.
Simple meaning
A writ requiring someone to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhpeenuhzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
səˈpinəz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
plural of subpoena
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.
plural of subpoena
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
plural of subpoena
A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.
verb
third-person singular of subpoena
To summon (someone) with a subpoena (noun 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).
third-person singular of subpoena
To require (a document or other evidence) to be produced before a court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding.
third-person singular of subpoena
To compel or summon (someone or something); to demand.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, subpoenas is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Writ / summon
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Serve or summon with a subpoena.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.