noun
summons
SUH-muhnz
noun
1
A formal order to appear somewhere, especially in court.
"He received a summons to appear before the magistrate."
"The jury summons arrived in the post on Monday."
verb
1
To formally order someone to appear in court.
"She was summonsed for failing to pay the fine."
How to Use Summons
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA formal, often legal, order to show up somewhere.
Common mistake
"Summons" is the noun and a rarer verb form; "summon" is the everyday verb. Don't write "summonsed" when you just mean "called."
Easily confused with
Common pairings
a court summons
issue a summons
Word Forms
summonsed past tense, summonses plural, summonses singular
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He received a _____ to appear before the magistrate.
Etymology
From Old French sumunce, from Vulgar Latin summonsa, related to summonēre ("to summon").