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Summon

//ˈsʌmən// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
A creature magically summoned to do the summoner's bidding.
"Conjuration magic in Baldur's Gate 3 allows players to summon a variety of helpful creatures […] These summons can assist players in combat and exploration, providing strategic advantages with their unique abilities."
2
A fine; a fee or monetary penalty incurred for breaking the law; usually for a minor offence such as a traffic violation. Malaysia, colloquial, slang
"You better pay off the parking summon tomorrow before you kena interest on it."
3
call, command, order
"The deceased was 58 years of age, was the picture of health even five or six hours prior to his death, when suddenly the grim messenger came with a summon from a Higher Tribunal, calling him to duties above."
4
A notice of an infringement of the law, usually incurring such a penalty; a citation or ticket. Malaysia, colloquial, slang

Verb

1
To call people together; to convene; to convoke. transitive
"Silence is primary, summoning presence to itself; so it's a connection to the realm of origin."
2
To impose such a fine or penalty, or to issue a notice thereof. Malaysia, colloquial, slang, transitive
"The police summoned the driver for speeding."
3
make ready for action or use wordnet
4
To ask someone to come; to send for. transitive
"The cousins separated, and Nain Singh joined a caravan posing as a merchant. This time he crossed the border successfully. Singh eventually entered Jih-k’a-tse, the second-largest city in Tibet. It was in Jih-k’a-tse that he was summoned to meet the country’s second-highest religious authority, the Panchen Lama, who turned out to be only 11 years old."
5
call in an official matter, such as to attend court wordnet

Show 7 more definitions

6
To order (goods) and have delivered
"You can summon groceries, alcohol and medicines to your home: chips and vodka on New Year’s Eve, say, and then aspirin on New Year’s Day."
7
ask to come wordnet
8
To rouse oneself to exert a skill. transitive
"For securing the attainment of what he considered to be a most desirable end, he summoned all his abilities with a most praiseworthy energy and perseverance."
9
gather or bring together wordnet
10
To call a resource by magic. transitive
"“Why won't you teach me to summon water? I can summon fire so easily, it's only logical that I should learn to put out my mistakes.”"
11
cause to become available for use, either literally or figuratively wordnet
12
To summons; convene. transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman somoundre, from Old French sumundre, from Latin summonēre, itself from sub + monēre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *monéyeti, causative from *men- (“to think”). Compare typologically from the same PIE root mention, Russian помина́ть (pominátʹ), упомина́ть (upominátʹ) (developed less further, keeping strong relation with по́мнить (pómnitʹ)), also compare помина́й как зва́ли (pomináj kak zváli) (<+ звать (zvatʹ)).

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Malay saman (“fine, financial penalty”), which is itself borrowed from English summons (“notice summoning someone to appear in court”). This sense re-emerged in English as summon likely due to the erroneous belief that the original singular English word summons is plural. Doublet of summons and saman.

Etymology 4

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