What does "summon" mean?

1. (to call someone officially) to officially order someone to come to a place, especially a court of law. 2. (to gather strength) to find the courage, energy, or strength you need to do something. 3. (to call together) to call a group of people together for a meeting. 4. (to call by magic) to make a spirit or creature appear using magic. 5. (a traffic fine) a ticket or fine for a small crime, like parking in the wrong place.

How do you use "summon"?

Commonly used as a noun in Malaysian and Singaporean English where other dialects would use 'fine' or 'ticket'.

summon

v. · n.

US //ˈsəmən// UK //sˈʌmən// sum·mon

1 to call someone officially (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Formal Law

to officially order someone to come to a place, especially a court of law.

to command someone to appear in a specific location, typically for a legal or official purpose. Transitive; requires a direct object.

Example

The judge decided to summon the witness to testify in court next week.

Example

The committee exercised its legal authority to summon the chief executive for questioning regarding the company's recent financial discrepancies.
- subpoena
- call
- send for
- dismiss
2 to gather strength (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to find the courage, energy, or strength you need to do something.

to rouse or muster a particular quality or internal resource, such as courage or energy, from within oneself.

Example

She had to summon all her courage to tell her boss that she was quitting.

Example

He struggled to summon the necessary concentration to finish the report after working for twelve hours without a break.

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3 to call together (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal

to call a group of people together for a meeting.

to convene or convoke a formal assembly or meeting.

Example

The president decided to summon a special meeting of the council.

Example

The monarch summoned the parliament to address the urgent matter of the border dispute.
- convene
- assemble
- convoke
- disperse
- dissolve
4 to call by magic (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to make a spirit or creature appear using magic.

to call upon a supernatural being or resource through magical means.

Example

In the story, the wizard used an old book to summon a dragon.

Example

The ritual was designed to summon ancestral spirits to provide guidance for the tribe's future.
- conjure
- invoke
- banish
5 a traffic fine (n.)
C1 Advanced Dialect Slang Informal Law

a ticket or fine for a small crime, like parking in the wrong place.

a notice of a legal infringement or the resulting monetary penalty, particularly for traffic violations.

Example

He got a summon for speeding on his way to work this morning.

Example

The driver was frustrated to find a summon on his windshield after leaving his car in a restricted zone for only five minutes.

Usage

Commonly used as a noun in Malaysian and Singaporean English where other dialects would use 'fine' or 'ticket'.

Teacher's tip

This noun usage is highly regional; in standard British or American English, 'summons' is the standard noun form for a legal order.

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman somoundre, from Old French sumundre, from Latin summonēre, itself from sub + monēre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European monéyeti, causative from men- (“to think”). Compare typologically from the same PIE root mention, Russian помина́ть (pominátʹ), упомина́ть (upominátʹ) (developed less further, keeping strong relation with по́мнить (pómnitʹ)), also compare помина́й как зва́ли (pomináj kak zváli) (<+ звать (zvatʹ)).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Malay saman (“fine, financial penalty”), which is itself borrowed from English summons (“notice summoning someone to appear in court”). This sense re-emerged in English as summon likely due to the erroneous belief that the original singular English word summons is plural. Doublet of summons and saman.

Word family

Verbsummon
Nounsummons