summons
pronunciation
How to pronounce summons in British English:
UK [ˈsʌmənz]
How to pronounce summons in American English:
US [ˈsʌmənz]
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- Noun:
- a request to be present
- an order to appear in person at a given place and time
- a writ issued by authority of law; usually compels the defendant's attendance in a civil suit; failure to appear results in a default judgment against the defendant
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- Verb:
- call in an official matter, such as to attend court
Word Origin
- summons (n.)
- "authoritative call to be at a certain place for a certain purpose," late 13c., from Old French sumunse, noun use of fem. past participle of somondre (see summon (v.)). As a verb from 1650s.
Example
- 1. Shortly after , the prosecutor general issued a summons for mubarak to appear for questioning .
- 2. Chinese authorities have not confirmed whether a hong kong court summons has been delivered to huang guangyu , the retail tycoon who is the subject of investigations in both jurisdictions .
- 3. A lawyer for pangang said in a hearing thursday morning that they plan to file a motion to challenge the court summons issued to the company , according to people who were at the hearing .
- 4. Hear it not , duncan , for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell .
- 5. Instead of reading , " you are to appear in court on 3 august 2010 , " as it should have , the summons said something more like " you have to avoid being in court on 3 august 2010 . "