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testify. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
testify, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
testify in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
testify you have here. The definition of the word
testify will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
testify, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English testifien, borrowed from Old French testifier, from Latin testificārī (“to bear witness”), from testis (“a witness”) + facere (“to make”). See -fy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɛstɪfaɪ/
- Hyphenation: tes‧ti‧fy
Verb
testify (third-person singular simple present testifies, present participle testifying, simple past and past participle testified) (ambitransitive)
- To make a declaration, or give evidence, under oath.
- To make a statement based on personal knowledge or faith.
1733, Tho Allen, “Jesus Christ’s Sixth Royal Embassy; or Word to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia”, in The Christian’s Sure Guide to Eternal Glory: Or, Living Oracles Most Comfortable, Holy and Instructive of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven, in His Royal Embassy to the Seven Churches of Asia, , London: Francis Jefferies , →OCLC, page 253:he pleaſures of ſenſe have no reliſh vvhere thou irradiateſt and teſtifieſt vvith our conſcience, that vve are the children of God, and have done thy vvill ſincerely,
- (with to) To be evidence of.
2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements of the Sardinian Lexicon, page 15:"Iberian-Sardinian" substrate features have been posited time and time again. These have usually been explained as testifying to a migration from the Iberian Peninsula to Sardinia in prehistoric times.
Conjugation
Synonyms
Translations
to make a declaration, or give evidence, under oath
- Albanian: dëshmoj (sq)
- Arabic: شَهِدَ (ar) (šahida)
- Armenian: վկայել (hy) (vkayel), վկայություն տալ (vkayutʻyun tal)
- Bulgarian: свидетелствам (svidetelstvam)
- Catalan: declarar (ca), testificar (ca), testimoniar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 作證 / 作证 (zh) (zuòzhèng)
- Czech: svědčit (cs)
- Danish: bevidne
- Dutch: getuigen (nl)
- Egyptian: (mtr)
- Finnish: todistaa (fi)
- French: témoigner (fr), attester (fr)
- German: bezeugen (de)
- Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍄𐍅𐍉𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (weitwōdjan)
- Greek:
- Ancient: μαρτυρέω (marturéō)
- Higaonon: saksi
- Hungarian: tanúvallomást tesz, tanúskodik (hu), vall (hu)
- Italian: deporre (it), testimoniare (it)
- Japanese: 証言する (ja) (しょうげんする, shōgen suru)
- Korean: 증언하다 (jeung'eonhada)
- Latin: testificor
- Maori: taunaki
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: bevitne
- Persian: شهادت دادن (fa)
- Polish: zeznawać
- Portuguese: declarar (pt), depor (pt)
- Romanian: atesta (ro) (jurând), declara (ro) (jurând), adeveri (ro)
- Russian: свиде́тельствовать (ru) impf (svidételʹstvovatʹ), засвиде́тельствовать (ru) pf (zasvidételʹstvovatʹ), дава́ть показа́ния impf (davátʹ pokazánija), дать показа́ния pf (datʹ pokazánija)
- Serbo-Croatian: svjedòčiti (sh)
- Spanish: testificar (es)
- Swedish: vittna (sv)
- Tagalog: manaksi
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to make a statement based on personal knowledge or faith
See also
Further reading
- “testify”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E Smith, editors (1911), “testify”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.