subpoena
n. countablen. a legal document that orders someone to go to a court of law. If you receive one, you must appear as a witness or provide specific documents.
n. a formal written order issued by a court or other government agency to compel a witness to testify or produce evidence. Failure to comply typically results in a penalty for contempt.
The lawyer sent a subpoena to the witness.
The company received a subpoena for all internal emails related to the merger investigation.
Legal counsel advised the executive that ignoring the subpoena would likely result in a contempt of court charge, regardless of the sensitive nature of the requested documents.
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”), from Latin sub (“under”) + poena (“penalty, punishment”), from the opening words of the writ. The verb sense is derived from the noun one.
Often used with the verbs 'issue', 'serve', or 'comply with'.
the police subpoenaed to himthe police subpoenaed himWhen used as a verb, it is transitive and does not take the preposition 'to'.