"bear witness" meaning in English

See bear witness in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: bears witness [present, singular, third-person], bearing witness [participle, present], bore witness [past], borne witness [participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|bear<,,bore,borne> witness}} bear witness (third-person singular simple present bears witness, present participle bearing witness, simple past bore witness, past participle borne witness)
  1. To deliver a testimony, especially as witness Synonyms (deliver a testimony): testify Derived forms: bear false witness Translations (deliver testimony): μαρτυρέω (marturéō) (Ancient Greek), شَهِدَ (šahida) (Arabic), све́дчыць (svjédčycʹ) (Belarusian), svědčit (Czech), (een) getuigenis afleggen (Dutch), getuigen (Dutch), mt:t:r-Dba-Dba-A2 (mtr) (Egyptian), bezeugen (German), העיד (he'íd) (Hebrew), tanúskodik (Hungarian), tanúvallomást tesz (Hungarian), testificor (Latin), świadczyć (Polish), testemunhar (Portuguese), свиде́тельствовать (svidételʹstvovatʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), svedčiť [imperfective] (Slovak), vittna (Swedish), avlägga vittnesbörd (Swedish), сві́дчити (svídčyty) [imperfective] (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-bear_witness-en-verb-wzcgoSwJ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English predicates, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 73 27 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 79 21 Disambiguation of English predicates: 51 49 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 80 20 Disambiguation of 'deliver a testimony': 96 4 Disambiguation of 'deliver testimony': 93 7
  2. To prove, demonstrate Translations (prove, demonstrate): getuigen (Dutch), העיד (he'íd) (Hebrew), המחיש (himkhísh) (Hebrew), tanúskodik (Hungarian), tanúsít (Hungarian), szemléltet (Hungarian), provar (Portuguese), svedočiti (Serbo-Croatian), vittna (note: constructed with "om") (Swedish), bära vittnesbörd (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-bear_witness-en-verb-QUtWsvFv Categories (other): English predicates Disambiguation of English predicates: 51 49 Disambiguation of 'prove, demonstrate': 2 98

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for bear witness meaning in English (6.5kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bears witness",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bearing witness",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bore witness",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borne witness",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "bear<,,bore,borne> witness"
      },
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "73 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "79 21",
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          "_dis": "80 20",
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        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "word": "bear false witness"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He hesitated to bear witness against them in court for fear of reprisals by the felons' accomplices"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deliver a testimony, especially as witness"
      ],
      "id": "en-bear_witness-en-verb-wzcgoSwJ",
      "links": [
        [
          "deliver",
          "deliver"
        ],
        [
          "testimony",
          "testimony"
        ],
        [
          "witness",
          "witness"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "sense": "deliver a testimony",
          "word": "testify"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "šahida",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "شَهِدَ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "be",
          "lang": "Belarusian",
          "roman": "svjédčycʹ",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "све́дчыць"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "svědčit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "(een) getuigenis afleggen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "getuigen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "egy",
          "lang": "Egyptian",
          "roman": "mtr",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "mt:t:r-Dba-Dba-A2"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "bezeugen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "grc",
          "lang": "Ancient Greek",
          "roman": "marturéō",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "μαρτυρέω"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "he'íd",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "העיד"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "tanúskodik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "tanúvallomást tesz"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "testificor"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "świadczyć"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "testemunhar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "svidételʹstvovatʹ",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "свиде́тельствовать"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "svedčiť"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "vittna"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "word": "avlägga vittnesbörd"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "svídčyty",
          "sense": "deliver testimony",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "сві́дчити"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The dubious state of the whole society bears witness of years of misrule"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 July 7, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “The ambitious War For The Planet Of The Apes ends up surrendering to formula”, in The Onion AV Club",
          "text": "In stretches, this new Apes is an audacious, idiosyncratic piece of blockbuster filmmaking: a mix of Pixar, revenge Westerns, and Apocalypse Now, told almost entirely from the point-of-view of a posse of gun-toting, super-evolved apes as they roam the snowy Sierra Nevada foothills of the post-apocalyptic future, accompanied by a mute human girl, and bear witness to the strange cruelty of man.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The riding of B.R. coaches”, in Trains Illustrated, page 705",
          "text": "Nor, having married coach and bogie design successfully, does it follow that good riding will ensue, whatever the track carrying it—as the performance of B.R. standard coaches on flat-bottom, concrete-sleepered track bears witness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To prove, demonstrate"
      ],
      "id": "en-bear_witness-en-verb-QUtWsvFv",
      "links": [
        [
          "prove",
          "prove"
        ],
        [
          "demonstrate",
          "demonstrate"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "getuigen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "he'íd",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "העיד"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "himkhísh",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "המחיש"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "tanúskodik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "tanúsít"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "szemléltet"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "provar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "svedočiti"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "note": "constructed with \"om\"",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "vittna"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
          "word": "bära vittnesbörd"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "bear witness"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English predicates",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "bear false witness"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bears witness",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "bearing witness",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
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    },
    {
      "form": "bore witness",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borne witness",
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        "participle",
        "past"
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  "head_templates": [
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        "1": "bear<,,bore,borne> witness"
      },
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He hesitated to bear witness against them in court for fear of reprisals by the felons' accomplices"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deliver a testimony, especially as witness"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "deliver",
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      ]
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      "examples": [
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          "text": "The dubious state of the whole society bears witness of years of misrule"
        },
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          "text": "In stretches, this new Apes is an audacious, idiosyncratic piece of blockbuster filmmaking: a mix of Pixar, revenge Westerns, and Apocalypse Now, told almost entirely from the point-of-view of a posse of gun-toting, super-evolved apes as they roam the snowy Sierra Nevada foothills of the post-apocalyptic future, accompanied by a mute human girl, and bear witness to the strange cruelty of man.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        {
          "ref": "1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The riding of B.R. coaches”, in Trains Illustrated, page 705",
          "text": "Nor, having married coach and bogie design successfully, does it follow that good riding will ensue, whatever the track carrying it—as the performance of B.R. standard coaches on flat-bottom, concrete-sleepered track bears witness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To prove, demonstrate"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "prove",
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        ]
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "deliver a testimony",
      "word": "testify"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "šahida",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "شَهِدَ"
    },
    {
      "code": "be",
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "roman": "svjédčycʹ",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "све́дчыць"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "svědčit"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "(een) getuigenis afleggen"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "getuigen"
    },
    {
      "code": "egy",
      "lang": "Egyptian",
      "roman": "mtr",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "mt:t:r-Dba-Dba-A2"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "bezeugen"
    },
    {
      "code": "grc",
      "lang": "Ancient Greek",
      "roman": "marturéō",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "μαρτυρέω"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "he'íd",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "העיד"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "tanúskodik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "tanúvallomást tesz"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "testificor"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "świadczyć"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "testemunhar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "svidételʹstvovatʹ",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "свиде́тельствовать"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "svedčiť"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "vittna"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "word": "avlägga vittnesbörd"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "svídčyty",
      "sense": "deliver testimony",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "сві́дчити"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "getuigen"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "he'íd",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "העיד"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "himkhísh",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "המחיש"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "tanúskodik"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "tanúsít"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "szemléltet"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "provar"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "svedočiti"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "note": "constructed with \"om\"",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "vittna"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "prove, demonstrate",
      "word": "bära vittnesbörd"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bear witness"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.