summons

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English somouns,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman somonse,^[5][6][7] also sumunse,^[5][8][9] now French semonce.^[5][10][11] The French noun is a use of the feminine past participle of somondre (“to summon”),^{[5][8][3][12]} from Vulgar Latin *summonsa,^[7][4] an altered form of Latin summonita, the feminine past participle of summoneō (“to hint to, remind privately”),^[7][4][9] from sub- (“under”) and moneō (“to warn, advise”).^[8] The -s of the English noun continues that of the French participle, somons,^[5][3] and English normally adds its plural ending to it.^[3][13] The verb is formed from the noun, after the earlier summon.^[5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

An official order to appear before a monarch or other authority: about 1300, in Holy Cross.^[5][8] Merriam-Webster and Collins date the word to the 13th century.^[3][13]

Semantic evolution

In French the noun had meant an exhortation by about 1050 and an invitation, especially to a feast, by about 1155, before it came to be a feudal lord's call to his vassals and an official letter ordering attendance in the late 12th century.^[5] Anglo-Norman used it from the first half of the 12th century, with the senses of command and of an order to appear before an authority or court.^[6] English took the official senses, and the legal use grew from these: a writ opening a civil action in Scots law (1385), and a writ ordering a defendant to appear (1429–30).^[5] From the 16th century it spread to any urgent call, in Dunbar about 1507 and, for a call to do something, in 1595, and it was also the order to a town or castle to surrender (1570).^[5] Etymonline likewise puts general use by the 1560s.^[8] Johnson (1755) defined it as a call of authority, and quoted Dryden's "Strike your sails at summons".^[14] The verb, recorded from 1659, is first found in a document printed in C. Upham's Salem Witchcraft,^[5] and in the English Dialect Dictionary it is recorded in Scotland, Ireland, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Devon.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – an official order to appear before an authority.^[5][8]
• 1385 – in Scots law, a writ beginning a civil action.^[5]
• 1399 – a monarch's order to the nobility to attend parliament.^[5]
• 1429–30 – a writ ordering a defendant to appear in court.^[5]
• c. 1507 – an authoritative or urgent call to come.^[5]
• 1570 – an order for a town or castle to surrender.^[5]
• 1595 – an urgent call to do something.^[5]
• 1659 – verb, to order to appear in court.^[5] Etymonline dates the verb to the 1650s, and Merriam-Webster to 1683.^[8][3]
• 1694 – verb, to call for a person to come.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An authoritative call or order to come or to do something: A summons from the head teacher reached her at lunch.^[13][12][3]
2. In law, an official order to appear in court, as a defendant, witness or juror, or the writ making that order.^{[13][12][3][5]}
3. A call to the members of an assembly to meet.^[13][5]
4. An order or signal to a town or castle to surrender.^[5]

Verb

1. In law, to serve someone with a summons: The landlord was summonsed over the unpaid fine.^{[13][12][3][5]}
2. To call for someone to come; to summon.^[3][5][15]

Word family

• nonsummons
• writ of summons

Related words

• summon
• summoner
• admonish
• monitory

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
13. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)