subpoena
sub·poe·na/sə(b)ˈpi.nə/noun, verb
subpoena is spelled S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A, 3 syllables: sub·poe·na. The wrong spelling people search most is sepina: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 233 of all searches for the word. Subpoena is a noun meaning “A writ (“written order”) requiring someone to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal…”. The plural of subpoena is subpoenas or subpoenae.
How many letters and syllables are in subpoena?
| Letters | 8: S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sub·poe·na |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, sepina, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell subpoena?
Subpoena is spelled S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 231 of the searches for subpoena in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is subpoena?
Subpoena appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce subpoena?
- UK /sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/
- US /sə(b)ˈpi.nə/
Subpoena has 3 syllables, split sub·poe·na in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-subpoena.wav, En-us-subpoena.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with subpoena?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as subpoena from its last stressed vowel (/inə/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of subpoena
- subpoenas plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- subpoenae plural
- subpoenæ plural
- subpoenaing participle, present
- subpoenaed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does subpoena mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A writ (“written order”) requiring someone to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding, as a witness to give testimony (a subpoena ad testificandum) or to produce evidence (subpoena duces tecum), in default of which the person may be punished.
- 2
A writ requiring a defendant to appear in court to answer a plaintiff's claim (a subpoena ad respondendum); in England and Wales, and Ireland, this writ was formerly issued by the Court of Chancery at the plaintiff's request to commence a suit, but the procedure was abolished in 1852.
- 3
A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.
verb
- 1
To summon (someone) with a subpoena (noun sense 1) to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding, as a witness to give testimony or to produce evidence; to serve a subpoena on (someone).
- 2
To require (a document or other evidence) to be produced before a court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding.
- 3
To compel or summon (someone or something); to demand.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Subpoena in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | citation |
| German | Auskunftsanordnung, Vorladung, Zwangsvorladung , zwangsvorladen |
| Portuguese | citação, intimação , citar |
| Spanish | citación, requerimiento, citatorio, citatoria , citar, citar a declarar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does subpoena come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).