Etymology

subpoena

sub·poe·na
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Today it means: A writ (“written order”) requiring someone to appear in court, or at a deposition or some other legal proceeding, as a witness to give testimony (a subpoena ad testificandum) or to produce evidence (subpoena duces tecum), in default of which the person may be punished. Full definition →

Middle English sub pena ← Medieval Latin poena ← Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  2. Proto-Italic*supo
  3. Medieval Latinsub
  4. Proto-Indo-European*kʷey-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*kʷoynéh₂
  6. Proto-Hellenic*kʷoinā́
  7. Ancient Greekποινή (poinḗ)
  8. Medieval Latinpoena
  9. Middle Englishsub pena
  10. English todaysubpoena

The noun sense is derived from Late Middle English sub pena (“writ requiring defendant to appear in the Court of Chancery to answer a plaintiff’s claim or to be punished; writ requiring witness to appear in court”), from Latin sub (“under”) + poena (“penalty, punishment”), from the opening words of the writ. The verb sense is derived from the noun one.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.