subpoena duces tecum

1. 1.

   a writ issued by a court at the request of one of the parties to a suit; it requires a witness to bring to court or to a deposition any relevant documents under the witness's control

   Broaderwrit

   law

Questions about subpoena duces tecum

What does subpoena duces tecum mean?

subpoena duces tecum means "a writ issued by a court at the request of one of the parties to a suit; it requires a witness to bring to court or to a deposition any relevant documents under the witness's control".

Is subpoena duces tecum a common word?

subpoena duces tecum is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.