- summon
- summon, summons, call, cite, convoke, convene, muster mean to demand the presence of persons or, by extension, things.Summon implies the exercise of authority or of power; it usually suggests a mandate, an imperative order or bidding, or urgency{
the king summoned his privy councilors to the palace
}{summoned his secretary
}{summon a person to appear in court
}{I summon your Grace to his Majesty's parliament— Shak.
}{a confiding, playful littie animal, whom one alternately trained to do tricks and then summoned to jump snuggling upon one's knQQ—Sackville-West
}{she could summon tears and delights as one summons servants— H. G. Wells
}Summons, sometimes interchangeable with summon, usually implies the actual serving with a legal writ to appear in court.Call is often used in place of summon, especially when less formality is implied or the imperativeness of the bidding is not stressed, or when actual shouting is suggested{call men to arms
}{call witnesses to court
}{call a servant
}{the president called congress together for an extra session
}{I can call spirits from the vasty deep— Shak.
}Often, however, there is a suggestion of an impulsion of God, of Nature, or of necessity{the young man felt that he was called to the ministry
}{America is called to greatness—/!. E. Stevenson
}{he felt called upon to speak
}{Andrew was cited to appear and testify—W. B. Parker
}{he hath cited me to Rome, for heresy— Tennyson
}Convoke implies a summons to assemble, especially for legislative or deliberative purposes{the king convoked parliament
}{the Italian government convoked great congresses of physicists and engineers— Darrow
}{he convoked the chiefs of the three armed services . . . and laid down the law— Shirer
}Convene is related to convoke somewhat as call is to summon; it is weaker in its suggestions of the exercise of authority and of imperativeness, but otherwise it is often not distinguishable{convene the students in the school auditorium
}{the Senate was convened by the tribunes— Froude
}{the court-martial, perhaps fortunately, was never convened— Powell
}Muster implies the summoning of an army or other body of troops or of a ship's company (as for military action, inspection, parade, or exercise). In extended use it implies the assembling of a number of things that form a collection or a group in order that they may be exhibited, displayed, or utilized as a whole{a daw that had a mind to be sparkish, tricked himself up with all the gay feathers he could muster together— L'Estrange
}{before the residents could muster a fighting force, the marauders had filled their boats with plunder and were gone— Laird
}Muster is used in place of summon with such objects as courage or strength, especially when the context implies the previous dissipation of the quality mentioned{at length you have mustered heart to visit the old place— Dickens
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
