witness

American  

[wit-nis] / ˈwɪt nɪs /

verb (used with object)

• witnesses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• witnessed,
  past participle,  past
• witnessing
  present participle

1. 

   to see, hear, or know by personal presence and perception.

   to witness an accident.

   Synonyms:

   note, notice, mark, watch, perceive

2. to be present at (an occurrence) as a formal witness, spectator, bystander, etc..

   She witnessed our wedding.

3. to bear witness to; testify to; give or afford evidence of.

4. to attest by one's signature.

   He witnessed her will.

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verb (used without object)

• witnesses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• witnessed,
  past participle,  past
• witnessing
  present participle

1. to bear witness; testify; give or afford evidence.

noun

• witnesses
  plural

1. an individual who, being present, personally sees or perceives a thing; a beholder, spectator, or eyewitness.

2. a person or thing that affords evidence.

3. a person who gives testimony, as in a court of law.

4. a person who signs a document attesting the genuineness of its execution.

5. testimony or evidence.

   to bear witness to her suffering.

   Synonyms:

   substantiation, confirmation, proof

6. (initial capital letter) a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

witness British  

/ ˈwɪtnɪs /

noun

1. a person who has seen or can give first-hand evidence of some event

2. a person or thing giving or serving as evidence

3. a person who testifies, esp in a court of law, to events or facts within his own knowledge

4. a person who attests to the genuineness of a document, signature, etc, by adding his own signature

5. 1. to give written or oral testimony

   2. to be evidence or proof of

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verb

1. (tr) to see, be present at, or know at first hand

2. to give or serve as evidence (of)

3. (tr) to be the scene or setting of

   this field has witnessed a battle

4. (intr) to testify, esp in a court of law, to events within a person's own knowledge

5. (tr) to attest to the genuineness of (a document, signature, etc) by adding one's own signature

Usage

What does witness mean? A witness is someone who was present at or perceives an incident, event, or occurrence, as in Jamal was a witness to the fact that I completed all my homework. People who witness something typically do so through seeing, although they can also witness a smell or sound. In order to witness an event, one must simply be present at the time the event happened, even if the witness was not directly involved. To witness something is to see, hear, sense, or know something, as in I witnessed our dog running out the door, but I didn’t see where she went. To witness is also to testify or give evidence, especially in a court of law. Example: The key witness in the theft case was a local shop owner.

Synonym Usage

See observe.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prewitness
  noun
• self-witness
  noun
• witnesser
  noun
• self-witnessed
  adjective
• well-witnessed
  adjective
• witnessable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• witnesses
  plural

Participles

• witnessing
  present
• witnessed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• witness
  simple
• witnesses
  simple
• have witnessed
  perfect
• has witnessed
  perfect
• am witnessing
  progressive
• are witnessing
  progressive
• is witnessing
  progressive
• have been witnessing
  perfect progressive
• has been witnessing
  perfect progressive

Past

• witnessed
  simple
• had witnessed
  perfect
• was witnessing
  progressive
• were witnessing
  progressive
• had been witnessing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will witness
  simple
• will have witnessed
  perfect
• will be witnessing
  progressive
• will have been witnessing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of witness

First recorded before 950; (noun) Middle English, Old English witnes originally, “knowledge, understanding”; see wit ¹, -ness; (verb) Middle English, derivative of the noun

Explanation

If you're walking down the street and see one car run a red light and plow into another, you are a witness to the accident. You saw it and can tell someone else how the accident happened. The first part of a witness's role is observation. You witness the accident. The second part is telling someone about it — bearing witness. In court, you can be a witness for the defense or prosecution. You can also witness a legal document, like a will, or a wedding conducted by the justice of the peace. Religious people use this word a lot too: being a witness in that sense is being a true believer who tries to convert others.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

witness witnesses witnessed witnessing

To see the picture earlier this month was to witness pure, untempered joy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

It was set up in The Hague to prevent witness intimidation and was staffed largely by judges and prosecutors from the U.S. and Western Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Randy Johnson, a developer called as an expert witness in the second lawsuit, advised Carter that many historic buildings on campus are not worth saving.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

A witness quoted by Reuters news agency said the fire had been put out by afternoon but smoke was still rising from rubble and corrugated metal.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

The poxies were not here to fight but to witness his ultimate victory.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

"The chair remains committed to the welfare and safety of UK Special Forces personnel and witnesses who come forward to the inquiry."

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Rush hour traffic was moving slowly when Rios’s Expedition entered one of the busiest junctions in the San Fernando Valley, but the SUV did not appear to brake before it T-boned the bus, witnesses said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

They heard from dozens of witnesses and received voluminous amounts of official and expert documentation.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Officers found Baby in the car that witnesses had described in a Walgreens parking lot shortly after noon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

She found that Priddy had arranged nearly a dozen witnesses.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

In her own court filing, the staffer described how the center had been blocked off by gates and witnessed how a forklift had "run into and hit the pillars on the building several times."

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

In each of those cases, what we have witnessed is the court enforcing federal statutes.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

Bank of America argues that equity markets can withstand more severe bond market shocks than those witnessed so far in 2026 and that volatility may be better guide to risk than Treasury yields at present.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Supporters witnessed arguably the worst first half of Alonso's short tenure to date, with Chelsea fortunate not to be further in arrears after the head coach made nine changes to his line-up.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

But in the weeks and months that followed, she witnessed many moths chewing through fuzzy cocoons, crawling out, and pumping up their wings.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

“What we are witnessing is a great capture of our children. A capture of their attention, their focus, their minds,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

AfD state lawmaker Daniel Wald, 44, compared the unbridled happiness to the collective joy he remembers witnessing as a child on the day the Berlin Wall fell.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

Those are surely factors, but what we are witnessing is a legal show trial, acting out institutionalized vengeance toward a mother who was severely and obviously mentally ill, something on which both sides agree.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

But as “Dreams in Nightmares” wends its way to a close, it’s also easy to believe you’re witnessing a percolating virtuosity that’s all Ford’s own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

After witnessing so much devastation, it was a relief to see a healthy, bustling patch of water.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

Related Words

• attend
• mark
• note
• notice
• see
• watch