Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To call together; convene: synonym: call.
  • transitive verb To request to appear; send for.
  • transitive verb To order to take a specified action; bid.
  • transitive verb To bring to mind or remember. Often used with up:
  • transitive verb To cause one to think of (something); evoke. Often used with up:
  • transitive verb To bring into existence or readiness. Often used with up:

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An invitation, request, or order.
  • To call, cite, or notify by authority to appear at a place specified, to attend in person to some public duty, or to assume a certain rank or dignity; especially, to command to appear in court: as, to summon a jury; to summon witnesses.
  • To call; send for; ask the presence or attendance of, literally or figuratively.
  • To call on to do some specified act; warn; especially, to call upon to surrender: as, to summon a fort.
  • To arouse; excite into action or exertion; raise: with up.
  • Synonyms and Invite, Convoke, etc. (see call), convene, assemble.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To call, bid, or cite; to notify to come to appear; -- often with up.
  • transitive verb To give notice to, or command to appear, as in court; to cite by authority.
  • transitive verb (Mil.) To call upon to surrender, as a fort.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To call people together; to convene.
  • verb To ask someone to come; to send for.
  • verb law To order someone to appear in court, especially by issuing a summons.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb call in an official matter, such as to attend court
  • verb ask to come
  • verb make ready for action or use
  • verb gather or bring together

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English somonden, from Old French somondre, from Vulgar Latin *summonere, from Latin summonēre, to remind privately, hint to : sub-, secretly; see sub– + monēre, to warn; see men- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman somoundre, from Old French sumundre, from Vulgar Latin *summundre, from Latin summonere, itself from sub + monere.

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