witness

WOTD – 4 April 2010    

English

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Etymology

From Middle English witnesse, from Old English witnes (“knowledge, witness, testimony, a witness”), equivalent to wit +‎ -ness. Cognate with Middle Dutch wetenisse (“witness, testimony”), Old High German gewiznessi (“testimony”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA: /ˈwɪt.nəs/, /ˈwɪt.nɪs/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)

Noun

witness (plural witnesses)

  1. Attestation of a fact or event; the quality of witting something.
    She can bear witness, since she was there at the time.
  2. One who has a personal knowledge of something.
    As a witness to the event, I can tell you that he really said that.
  3. Someone called to give evidence in a court.
    The witness for the prosecution did not seem very credible.
  4. Something that serves as evidence; a sign.

Derived terms

Translations

attestation of a fact or event
one who has a personal knowledge of something
someone called to give evidence in a court
something that serves as evidence
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

witness (third-person singular simple present witnesses, present participle witnessing, simple past and past participle witnessed)

  1. (transitive) To furnish proof of, to show.
    This certificate witnesses his presence on that day.
    • 1667: round he throws his baleful eyes / That witness'd huge affliction and dismay — John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1 ll. 56-7
  2. (transitive) To take as evidence.
    • 1993, Vicki M. Pino, “Viewpoints from our Readers after "Aprongate": Lighten up”, Atlanta Journal Constitution:
      Depression often goes undetected until it is too late . Witness the recent White House suicide.
  3. (transitive) To see, note, or gain knowledge of.
    He witnessed the accident.
  4. (intransitive, construed with to or for) To present personal religious testimony; to preach at (someone) or on behalf of.
    "I don't really want to be actively harrassed (I mean witnessed to) (...)"[1]
    • 1998, "Niebuhr, Reinhold", Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, volume 6‎, page 842
      Instead, Niebuhr's God was the God witnessed to in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, the Bible of the Christian world.

Synonyms

Translations

(transitive) to furnish proof of
(transitive) to take as evidence
(transitive) to gain knowledge of
(intransitive) to preach presenting personal testimony
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

References

  1. ^ Raising children with a Christian (and extended fam)

Anagrams

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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 16:14