different between behest vs summons

English

Etymology

From Middle English biheste, from Old English beh?s (“vow, promise”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“be-”), *haisiz (“command”), from *haitan? (“to command”). Final -t by analogy with other similar words in -t. Related to Old English beh?tan (“to command, promise”), Middle Low German beheit, beh?t (“a promise”). Compare also hest (“command”), hight.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bi?h?st/

Noun

behest (plural behests)

1. A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request; now usually in the phrase at the behest of. [from 12th c.]
   • 2009, “What a waste”, The Economist, 15 Oct 2009:

     the House of Representatives will try to water down even this feeble effort at the behest of the unions whose members enjoy some of the most lavish policies.

   • 2011, Owen Gibson, The Guardian, 24 Mar 2011:

     The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is to meet with the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, at the behest of the Premier League in a bid to resolve their long-running feud.

2. (obsolete) A vow; a promise.
   • c. 1440, Markaryte Paston, letter to John Paston

     The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.

Translations

Verb

behest (third-person singular simple present behests, present participle behesting, simple past and past participle behested)

1. (obsolete) To promise; vow.

Anagrams

• Bethes, Thebes, Thêbes, bethes, thebes

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?.m?nz/

Etymology 1

From Middle English somouns (“order or command to do something”), borrowed from Old French sumunce (modern French semonce), from Vulgar Latin *summonsa, a noun use of the feminine past participle of summone?, summon?re (“to summon”).

Noun

summons (plural summonses)

1. A call to do something, especially to come.
   • 1818, Henry Hallam, View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages

     special summonses by the king

   • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the Most Learned, Reverend and Pious Dr. H. Hammond

     this summons […] unfit either to dispute or disobey

   • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI

     He sent to summon the seditious, and to offer pardon […] ; but neither summons nor pardon was any thing regarded.

2. (law) A notice summoning someone to appear in court, as a defendant, juror or witness.
3. (military) A demand for surrender.

Descendants

• ? Bengali: ??? (?ômôn)
• ? Cebuano: sumon
• ? Malay: saman
  • ? English: saman

Translations

Verb

summons (third-person singular simple present summonses, present participle summonsing, simple past and past participle summonsed)

1. (transitive) To serve someone with a summons. [17th C.]

See also

• summons on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Summons in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

summons

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of summon

Anagrams

• musmons