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Witness
Definitions
- 1 Attestation of a fact or event; testimony. uncountable
"She can bear witness, since she was there at the time."
- 2 A Jehovah's Witness.
- 3 testimony by word or deed to your religious faith wordnet
- 4 One who sees or has personal knowledge of something. countable
"As a witness to the event, I can confirm that he really said that."
- 5 a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind) wordnet
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- 6 Someone called to give evidence in a court. countable
"The witness for the prosecution did not seem very credible."
- 7 someone who sees an event and reports what happened wordnet
- 8 One who is called upon to witness an event or action, such as a wedding or the signing of a document. countable
"The bridesmaid and best man at a wedding typically serve as the witnesses."
- 9 (law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature wordnet
- 10 Something that serves as evidence; a sign or token. countable
"Laban said to Jacob, […] This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness."
- 11 (law) a person who testifies under oath in a court of law wordnet
- 12 A particular version of a text (seen as providing testimony of archetype or other earlier version) countable, uncountable
"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."
- 1 To furnish proof of, to show. transitive
"This certificate witnesses his presence on that day."
- 2 be a witness to wordnet
- 3 To take as evidence. transitive
"Depression often goes undetected until it is too late . Witness the recent White House suicide."
- 4 perceive or be contemporaneous with wordnet
- 5 To see or gain knowledge of through experience. transitive
"He witnessed the accident."
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- 6 To present personal religious testimony; to preach at (someone) or on behalf of. intransitive
"Instead, Niebuhr's God was the God witnessed to in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, the Bible of the Christian world."
- 7 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"
Etymology
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”).
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”).
See also for "witness"
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