subpoena
/sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/
"subpoena" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“subpoena” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,707 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,707
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | subpoena |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,707 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “subpoena” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for subpoena is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,707 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for subpoena, with forms such as "sbupoena", "ssubpoena", and "subbpoena". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 sub… The correct English form is subpoena, spelled S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A.
Definition
- 1A 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.
- 2A 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.
- 3A motive or thing which can compel or demand something, or summon someone.
Etymology
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.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sbupoena,ssubpoena,subbpoena,subopena,subpeona,subpoean,subpoenna,subponea,subppoena,supboena,usbpoena
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of subpoena - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "subpoena"?
What does "subpoena" mean?
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Using “subpoena”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sə(b)ˈpiː.nə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.