Testimony

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛstɪmoʊni/

Definitions

1. Formal statement given under oath as evidence in a legal proceeding or to support a particular claim
2. A declaration made to convey information, often a factual report or personal account, in legal, academic, or public contexts
3. A verbal or written account offered as proof or support for a proposition, especially in a court or during an investigation

Etymology: Testimony comes from Latin "testimonium," a derivative of "testis," meaning "witness." The Latin noun carried the sense of evidence given by a witness, and that legal core has barely shifted in the centuries since. The word reached English through Old French "testimonie" and entered Middle English in its legal sense, when a person's sworn account before a court or assembly was the main way facts were established. The "testis" at its root is the same word that gives English "testify," so a witness who gives testimony is doing exactly what the Latin noun describes. Its ancestry reaches back to the Proto-Indo-European root "*tréyes," which lies behind a number of words for "three," an unexpected link because the Latin "testis" is thought to combine a "three" element with a notion of standing by as a third party to an agreement. That connection is uncertain, so it is best treated as a plausible but unconfirmed explanation rather than settled fact.

Synonyms: evidence, witness, declaration, statement

Antonyms: lie, falsehood