A court issued document demanding a person appear in court or respond to a lawsuit, or risk having a judgment filed against them or a warrant issued for their arrest in the context of a criminal case.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
summons (noun)1.
the act of - summoning , especially a call by authority to appear at a place named or to attend to a duty
2.
a warning or citation to appear in court as
a) a written notification to be served on a person as a warning to appear in court at a day specified to answer to the plaintiff
b) a subpoena to appear as a witness
3.
something (as a call) that summons
transitive verb
- summon
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
summons (noun)a written notice ordering a person to appear in court
SYNONYMS:
process, subpoenaRELATED WORDS:
capias, warrant, writ; ticket