Knowledge

 /

ArcaMax

Today's Word "Subpoena"

on

Published in Vocabulary

subpoena \suh-PEE-nuh\ (noun) - A writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure

"Defense lawyers have issued subpoenas to several supposed witnesses of the crime."

 

If you think you recognize the "sub-" in "subpoena" as the prefix meaning "under, beneath, below," you're on target. "Subpoena" arrived in Modern English (via the Middle English "suppena") from the Latin "sub poena," a combination of "sub" and "poena," meaning "penalty." Other "poena" descendants in English include "impunity" ("freedom from penalty"), "penal" ("of or relating to punishment"), and even "punish." There is also the verb "subpoena," as in "Defense lawyers have subpoenaed several supposed witnesses of the crime."


Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus
 

More Vocabulary

Today's Word "flippant"

Vocabulary /

flippant \FLIP-uhnt\ (adjective) - Lacking proper seriousness or respect; showing inappropriate levity; pert.

"Betty made some flippant rejoinder, but as she watched him, she was not gay." -- Humphry Ward, 'Sir George ...Read More

Today's Word "consanguineous"

Vocabulary /

consanguineous \kon-san(g)-GWIN-ee-us\ (adjective) - Of the same blood; related by birth; descended from the same parent or ancestor.

"...Descent in the royal house to which she belongs had always been confused by ...Read More

Today's Word "spoony"

Vocabulary /

spoony \SPOO-nee\ (adjective) - 1 : Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental. 2 : Foolishly or sentimentally in love.

"There is no doubt whatever that I was a lackadaisical young spoony; but there was a purity of heart in ...Read More

Today's Word "ephemeron"

Vocabulary /

ephemeron \ih-FEM-uh-ron\ (noun) plural ephemera \ih-FEM-uh-ruh\ - 1 : Something short-lived or of no lasting significance. 2 : ephemera: Items, especially printed matter (as posters, broadsides, pamphlets, etc.), intended...Read More

Today's Word "desultory"

Vocabulary /

desultory \DES-uhl-tor-ee\ (adjective) - 1 : Jumping or passing from one thing or subject to another without order or rational connection; disconnected; aimless. 2 : By the way; as a digression; not connected with the ...Read More

Today's Word "provender"

Vocabulary /

provender \PROV-uhn-duhr\ (noun) - 1 : Dry food for domestic animals, such as hay, straw, corn, oats, or a mixture of ground grain; feed. 2 : Food or provisions.

"It may be long ere we find any other provender now that we...Read More


 

Comics

Dave Granlund Sarah's Scribbles Fort Knox Jerry King Cartoons Ed Wexler Daryl Cagle
See more