Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced.
  • noun One who is called on to testify before a court.
  • noun One who is called on to be present at a transaction in order to attest to what takes place.
  • noun One who signs one's name to a document for the purpose of attesting to its authenticity.
  • noun Attestation to a fact, statement, or event; testimony.
  • noun Something that serves as evidence; a sign.
  • noun One who publicly affirms religious faith.
  • noun A member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
  • intransitive verb To see or know by personal experience.
  • intransitive verb To provide or serve as evidence of.
  • intransitive verb To consider as an example. Often used in the imperative.
  • intransitive verb To testify to; bear witness of.
  • intransitive verb To be the setting or site of.
  • intransitive verb To attest to the legality or authenticity of (a document) by signing one's name.
  • intransitive verb To furnish or serve as evidence.
  • intransitive verb To testify to one's religious beliefs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To bear witness or testimony; give evidence; testify.
  • To take witness or notice.
  • To give testimony to; testify; bear witness of, or serve as evidence of; attest; prove; show.
  • [Witness in this sense is often used in the subjunctive imperatively or optatively, in many cases with inversion.
  • To show by one's behavior; betray as a sentiment.
  • To see or know by personal presence; be a witness of; observe.
  • To see the execution of and affix one's name to (a contract, will, or other document) for the purpose of establishing its identity: as, to witness a bond or a deed.
  • To foretell; presage; foretoken.
  • =Syn.3. Perceive, Observe, etc. See see.
  • noun In geology, an eroded fragment of former more extensive strata, remaining in testimony of that which has departed.
  • noun Testimony; attestation of a fact or event; evidence: often with bear: as, to bear witness.
  • noun One who or that which bears testimony or furnishes evidence or proof.
  • noun One who is personally present and sees some act or occurrence, or hears something spoken, and can therefore bear witness to it; a spectator.
  • noun A sponsor, as at a baptism or christening.
  • noun In law:
  • noun One who gives testimony on the trial of a cause; one who appears before a court, judge, or other officer, and is examined under oath or affirmation.
  • noun One whose testimony is offered, or desired and expected.
  • noun One in whose presence or under whose observation a fact occurred.
  • noun One who upon request by or on behalf of a party subscribes his name to an instrument to attest the genuineness of its execution: more exactly, an attesting witness or a subscribing witness.
  • noun In bookbinding, an occasional rough edge on the leaf of a bound book, which is a testimony that the leaves have not been unduly trimmed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To see or know by personal presence; to have direct cognizance of.
  • transitive verb To give testimony to; to testify to; to attest.
  • transitive verb (Law) To see the execution of, as an instrument, and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity.
  • intransitive verb To bear testimony; to give evidence; to testify.
  • noun Attestation of a fact or an event; testimony.
  • noun That which furnishes evidence or proof.
  • noun One who is cognizant; a person who beholds, or otherwise has personal knowledge of, anything.
  • noun One who testifies in a cause, or gives evidence before a judicial tribunal.
  • noun 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.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English, from wit, knowledge; see wit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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").

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Examples

  • Now it would take the smallest portion of common sense to know that there is no witness, dead or living, who could testify to such a fact, save a _false witness_.

    Aunt Phillis's Cabin Or, Southern Life As It Is 1852

  • There is not a fact in it without a note of the name and address of the witness who can prove it -- the _witness_ -- observe me. '

    Wylder's Hand Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1843

  • The witness was reimbursed this witness* by the Solicitor-Gene - from the Duchy of Cornwall office* ral» he said* that this Mr.T. wa» by Mr. Gray.

    Sporting Magazine 1813

  • Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • Well that's good clarification but the term witness line is an old and well established term that refers to the line which connects the "bubble" and is generally drawn coincident on-center to some object the witness line refers to.

    All Discussion Groups: Message List - root 2008

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