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Witness   /wˈɪtnəs/   Listen
noun
Witness  n.  
1.
Attestation of a fact or an event; testimony. "May we with... the witness of a good conscience, pursue him with any further revenge?" "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."
2.
That which furnishes evidence or proof. "Laban said to Jacob,... This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness."
3.
One who is cognizant; a person who beholds, or otherwise has personal knowledge of, anything; as, an eyewitness; an earwitness. "Thyself art witness I am betrothed." "Upon my looking round, I was witness to appearances which filled me with melancholy and regret."
4.
(Law)
(a)
One who testifies in a cause, or gives evidence before a judicial tribunal; as, the witness in court agreed in all essential facts.
(b)
One who sees the execution of an instrument, and subscribes it for the purpose of confirming its authenticity by his testimony; one who witnesses a will, a deed, a marriage, or the like.
Privileged witnesses. (Law) See under Privileged.
With a witness, effectually; to a great degree; with great force, so as to leave some mark as a testimony. (Colloq.) "This, I confess, is haste with a witness."


verb
Witness  v. t.  (past & past part. witnessed; pres. part. witnessing)  
1.
To see or know by personal presence; to have direct cognizance of. "This is but a faint sketch of the incalculable calamities and horrors we must expect, should we ever witness the triumphs of modern infidelity." "General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace."
2.
To give testimony to; to testify to; to attest. "Behold how many things they witness against thee."
3.
(Law) To see the execution of, as an instrument, and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity; as, to witness a bond or a deed.


Witness  v. i.  To bear testimony; to give evidence; to testify. "The men of Belial witnessed against him." "The witnessing of the truth was then so generally attended with this event (martyrdom) that martyrdom now signifies not only to witness, but to witness to death."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Witness" Quotes from Famous Books



... Stuart. But Lady Mary, vivacious and agreeable as she is, had with all her talent a very considerable knack of writing for effect, of drawing strong contrasts and the like; and it is not quite certain that she saw very much of Fielding in the last and most interesting third of his life. Another witness, Horace Walpole, to less knowledge and equally dubious accuracy, added decided ill-will, which may have been due partly to the shrinking of a dilettante and a fop from a burly Bohemian; but I fear is also consequent upon the fact that Horace could not afford ...
— Joseph Andrews Vol. 1 • Henry Fielding
... spoke of but now, she in the play-book who lived like a man in the greenwood, says—or bears witness that another said—that none ever loved who loved not at first sight. This was true in my case. For that unhappy business with the girl Barbara, though it was love sure enough, was not such gracious love as that day ...
— Marjorie • Justin Huntly McCarthy
... folding my arms about her, [when she asks favours, thought I, the devil's in it, if she will not allow such an innocent freedom as this, from good Mr. Lovelace too,] you shall be witness of all passes between us.—Dorcas, desire the gentleman to ...
— Clarissa, Volume 5 (of 9) • Samuel Richardson
... simultaneous movement on the part of the jury brought the proceedings to confusion. A witness in the act of giving evidence stopped short in his sentence; he twisted his head; looking upward, he asked a question of the foreman, and the latter nodded, as if assenting. The judge then looked up. All the court looked up. All the heads were ...
— In and Out of Three Normady Inns • Anna Bowman Dodd
... Say, Unto God belongeth the east and the west: he directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. Thus have we placed you, O Arabians, an intermediate nation, that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind, and that the apostle may be a witness against you. We appointed the Keblah towards which thou didst formerly pray, only that we might know him who followeth the apostle, from him who turneth back on his heels; though this change seem a great matter, unless unto those whom God hath directed. ...
— Sacred Books of the East • Various


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