Library / English Dictionary

WITNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Testimony by word or deed to your religious faith

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("witness" is a kind of...):

testimony (a solemn statement made under oath)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "witness"):

shahadah (the first pillar of Islam is an affirmation of faith)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)

Example:

sky watchers discovered a new star

Synonyms:

looker; spectator; viewer; watcher; witness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("witness" is a kind of...):

beholder; observer; perceiver; percipient (a person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "witness"):

peeper; Peeping Tom; voyeur (a viewer who enjoys seeing the sex acts or sex organs of others)

starer (a viewer who gazes fixedly (often with hostility))

spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)

rubberneck; rubbernecker (a person who stares inquisitively)

playgoer; theatergoer; theatregoer (someone who attends the theater)

looker-on; onlooker (someone who looks on)

ogler (a viewer who gives a flirtatious or lewd look at another person)

motion-picture fan; moviegoer (someone who goes to see movies)

gawker (a spectator who stares stupidly without intelligent awareness)

eyewitness (a spectator who can describe what happened)

cheerer (a spectator who shouts encouragement)

bystander (a nonparticipant spectator)

browser (a viewer who looks around casually without seeking anything in particular)

Derivation:

witness (perceive or be contemporaneous with)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who sees an event and reports what happened

Synonyms:

informant; witness; witnesser

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("witness" is a kind of...):

beholder; observer; perceiver; percipient (a person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses)

speaker; talker; utterer; verbaliser; verbalizer (someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "witness"):

attestant; attester (someone who affirms or vouches for the correctness or truth or genuineness of something)

deponent; deposer; testifier (a person who testifies or gives a deposition)

Derivation:

witness (be a witness to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature

Synonyms:

attestant; attestator; attestor; witness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("witness" is a kind of...):

signatory; signer (someone who signs and is bound by a document)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

witness (be a witness to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(law) a person who testifies under oath in a court of law

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("witness" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "witness"):

adverse witness; hostile witness (a witness whose relationship to the opposing party is such that his or her testimony may be prejudiced against the opposing party)

character witness (a witness who testifies under oath as to the good reputation of another person in the community where that person lives)

expert witness (a witness who has knowledge not normally possessed by the average person concerning the topic that he is to testify about)

lay witness (any witness who does not testify as an expert witness)

material witness (a witness whose testimony is both relevant to the matter at issue and required in order to resolve the matter)

Derivation:

witness (be a witness to)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be a witness to

Example:

She witnessed the accident and had to testify in court

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "witness" is one way to...):

watch (look attentively)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "witness"):

eyewitness (be present at an event and see it with one's own eyes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

witness (someone who sees an event and reports what happened)

witness ((law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature)

witness ((law) a person who testifies under oath in a court of law)

witnesser (someone who sees an event and reports what happened)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Perceive or be contemporaneous with

Example:

I want to see results

Synonyms:

find; see; witness

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "witness" is one way to...):

experience; go through; see (undergo or live through a difficult experience)

Verb group:

discover; find out; get a line; get wind; get word; hear; learn; pick up; see (get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally)

find (perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "witness"):

catch (become aware of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

witness (a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind))

Credits

 Context examples: 

At this sudden outflame of wrath the two witnesses sank their faces on to their chests, and sat as men crushed.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The name of the individual witnessing an event.

(Person Observer, NCI Thesaurus)

I wish you both to be there as witnesses.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The next day and the next, days without end, witnessed the afternoon fight.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

While total solar eclipses happen somewhere on Earth almost every year, they mostly occur in remote locations or over the ocean, where few if any people actually witness them.

(Perseid Meteor Shower Provides Opening Act for Solar Eclipse, VOA News)

Had you witnessed my behaviour there, I can hardly suppose you would ever have thought well of me again.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Elinor could not hear the declaration, nor witness its proofs without sometimes wondering whether her mother ever recollected Edward.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The town seemed as dead, for not a soul did I see; I rejoiced that it was so, for I wanted no witness of poor Lucy's condition.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Rosetta also will be the first spacecraft to witness at close proximity how a comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing intensity of the sun's radiation.

(Rosetta closing in on comet, NASA)

Rosetta is the first spacecraft to witness at close proximity how a comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing intensity of the sun's radiation.

(Final Descent Image from Rosetta Spacecraft, NASA)