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witness

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witness¹

  • /ˈwɪt.nɪs/ US, UK
  • /ˈwɪt.nəs/

Rhymes with -ɪtnəs, -ɪtnɪs

Where it comes from

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

noun witnesses · witnesse · witneße

  1. uncountable Attestation of a fact or event; testimony. She can bear witness, since she was there at the time.
  2. countable One who sees or has personal knowledge of something. As a witness to the event, I can confirm that he really said that.
  3. countable Someone called to give evidence in a court. The witness for the prosecution did not seem very credible.
  4. countable One who is called upon to witness an event or action, such as a wedding or the signing of a document. The bridesmaid and best man at a wedding typically serve as the witnesses.
  5. countable Something that serves as evidence; a sign or token. Laban said to Jacob, […] This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness.
  6. countable, uncountable A particular version of a text (seen as providing testimony of archetype or other earlier version) Yet there are extremely few, if any, cases of preserved autographs, and textual witnesses (manuscripts) rather distant in time from the creation of the texts are the norm.
  7. countable An additional database server instance used in failover scenarios to decide whether the mirror should take over. Automatic failover requires a witness, either a file share or a SQL Server witness (SQL Server Express may be used as a witness).

verb witnesses · witnessing · witnessed · witnesse · witneße

  1. transitive To furnish proof of, to show. This certificate witnesses his presence on that day.
  2. transitive To take as evidence. Depression often goes undetected until it is too late . Witness the recent White House suicide.
  3. transitive To see or gain knowledge of through experience. He witnessed the accident.
  4. intransitive, construed with to or for To present personal religious testimony; to preach at (someone) or on behalf of. Instead, Niebuhr's God was the God witnessed to in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, the Bible of the Christian world.
  5. To see the execution of (a legal instrument), and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity. to witness a bond or a deed

Similar: certify

Witness²

noun Witnesses

  1. A Jehovah's Witness.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: see, watcher, spectator, viewer, find, informant, attestant, testifier, eyewitness, testimonial, testify, declarant, attest, testimony, vouch, oath

verb

Similar: certify

Translations

Every language

noun attestation of a fact or event

Españoltestimonio
한국어증인 jeung'in
日本語証人 shōnin, 証 akashi
中文證人 /证人 zhèngrén
हिन्दीगवाही gavāhī, साक्ष्य sākṣya
Kiswahilishahidi
Portuguêstestemunho
Françaistémoignage
DeutschZeugnis
Italianotestimonianza
Русскийсвиде́тельство svidételʹstvo
Tiếng Việtnhân chứng
العربيةشَهَادَة šahāda

noun one who has a personal knowledge of something

Españoltestigo
한국어목격자 mokgyeokja
日本語目撃者 mokugekisha
中文證人 /证人 zhèngrén, 見證人 /见证人 jiànzhèngrén, 目擊者 /目击者 mùjīzhě
हिन्दीगवाह gavāh, साक्षी sākṣī
Kiswahilishahidi
Portuguêstestemunha
Françaistémoin
DeutschZeuge, Zeugin
Italianotestimone
Ελληνικάμάρτυρας mártyras
Românămartor, martoră
Русскийсвиде́тель svidételʹ, свиде́тельница svidételʹnica, очеви́дец očevídec
Tiếng Việtnhân chứng
العربيةشَاهِد šāhid, شَاهِدَة šāhida, شَهِيد šahīd, شَهِيدَة šahīda
עבריתעֵד ed

noun someone called to give evidence in a court

Españoltestigo
한국어증인 jeung'in, 목격자 mokgyeokja
日本語証人 shōnin, 目撃者 mokugekisha
中文證人 /证人 zhèngrén
हिन्दीगवाह gavāh, साक्षी sākṣī, प्रत्यक्षदर्शी pratyakṣadarśī
Kiswahilishahidi
Portuguêstestemunha
Françaistémoin
DeutschZeuge, Zeugin
Italianotestimone
Ελληνικάμάρτυρας mártyras
Românămartor, martoră
Русскийсвиде́тель svidételʹ, свиде́тельница svidételʹnica, понято́й ponjatój, понята́я ponjatája, очеви́дец očevídec
Tiếng Việtnhân chứng
العربيةشَاهِد šāhid, شَاهِدَة šāhida
עבריתעֵד ed

noun something that serves as evidence

Españolprueba, testigo
हिन्दीसाक्ष्य sākṣya
Portuguêsprova
Françaispreuve
Italianoprova
العربيةشَاهِد šāhid, شَوَاهِد šawāhid

verb (transitive) to furnish proof of

Españoltestificar
한국어입증하다 ipjeunghada
Portuguêstestemunhar
Françaistémoigner
Deutschbezeugen
Italianotestimoniare
Русскийсвиде́тельствовать svidételʹstvovatʹ, подтвержда́ть podtverždátʹ, подтверди́ть podtverdítʹ

verb (transitive) to take as evidence

Españolprobar, atestiguar
Portuguêstestemunhar
Italianoconstatare

verb (transitive) to see or gain knowledge of through experience

Españolpresenciar, ser testigo de, ver
한국어목격하다 mokgyeokhada
日本語目撃する mokugeki suru
Portuguêspresenciar, testemunhar
DeutschZeuge sein
Italianoessere testimone, assistere
Русскийбыть свиде́телем bytʹ svidételem
العربيةشَهِدَ šahida

verb (intransitive) to preach presenting personal testimony

Españoltestificar

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Cite this
MLA

"witness." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/witness. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

witness. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/witness

Chicago

"witness." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/witness.

BibTeX
@misc{witness_2026,
  title = {witness},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/witness},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}