witness

English

/ˈwɪtnəs/

noun
Definitions
  • (uncountable) Attestation of a fact or event; testimony.
  • (countable) One who sees or has personal knowledge of something.
  • (countable) Someone called to give evidence in a court.
  • (countable) One who is called upon to witness an event or action, such as a wedding or the signing of a document.
  • (countable) Something that serves as evidence; a sign or token.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English witnesse inherited from Old English witnes (a witness, witness, knowledge, testimony) affix from English wit (understanding, know, a clever man, knowledge) root from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (see, know, behold, perceive, find, view, look at).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*weyd-

Gloss

see, know, behold, perceive, find, view, look at

Concept
Semantic Field

Sense perception

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

知

Emoji
🙈 🪚

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms