summons
/ˈsʌ.mənz/noun, verb
summons is spelled S-U-M-M-O-N-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, summons means “A call to do something, especially to come” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of summons is summonses.
How many letters and syllables are in summons?
| Letters | 7: S-U-M-M-O-N-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is summons?
Summons appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th 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 summons?
- /ˈsʌ.mənz/
Summons has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-summons.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-summons.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of summons
- summonses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- summonsing participle, present
- summonsed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does summons mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A call to do something, especially to come.
- 2
A notice summoning someone to appear in court, as a defendant, juror or witness.
- 3
A demand for surrender.
- 4
plural of summon
verb
- 1
To serve someone with a summons.
- 2
third-person singular simple present indicative of summon
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Summons in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | convocation , citation à comparaître, citation |
| German | Aufforderung , Vorladung |
| Portuguese | convocação , intimação |
| Spanish | convocatoria , citación |
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 summons come from?
From Middle English somouns (“order or command to do something”), borrowed from Old French sumunce (modern French semonce), from Vulgar Latin *summonsa, a noun use of the feminine past participle of summoneō, summonēre (“to summon”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).