witness: [OE] Witness originally meant ‘knowledge’ or ‘wisdom’; it was simply an abstract noun formed from wit. This was extended via ‘knowledge gained by observation’ to ‘testimony’ in the Old English period, and by the beginning of the Middle English period ‘person who gives testimony’ was well established. => wit
Old English witnes "attestation of fact, event, etc., from personal knowledge;" also "one who so testifies;" originally "knowledge, wit," formed from wit (n.) + -ness. Christian use (late 14c.) is as a literal translation of Greek martys (see martyr). Witness stand is recorded from 1853.
c. 1300, "bear testimony," from witness (n.). Meaning "affix one's signature to (a document) to establish its identity" is from early 14c. Meaning "see or know by personal presence, observe" is from 1580s. Related: Witnessed; witnessing.
双语例句
1. His girlfriend had gone into the witness box and taken the oath.
他的女朋友进入证人席并立了誓。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The plaintiff's sole witness, a gambler and layabout, was easily discredited.
原告唯一的证人嗜赌成性，游手好闲，其证词一下子就被推翻了。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The convictions rest solely on disputed witness and confessional statements.
仅仅根据有争议的目击者证言和供词就定了罪。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Too often children are witness to a disturbing amount of violence.
孩子们经常会目睹暴力事件，其数量之多令人不安。
来自柯林斯例句
5. One eye-witness said the rioters were engaged in an orgy of destruction.
