testify

English

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

From Middle English testifien, borrowed from Old French testifier, from Latin testificārī, present active infinitive of testificor (“I bear witness”), from testis (“a witness”) + facere (“to make”). See -fy.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈtɛstɪfaɪ/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Hyphenation: tes‧ti‧fy

Verb

testify (third-person singular simple present testifies, present participle testifying, simple past and past participle testified) (transitive, intransitive)

To make a declaration, or give evidence, under oath.
- 2014, Ruzwana Bashir, "The untold story of how a culture of shame perpetuates abuse. I know, I was a victim", The Guardian, 29 August 2014:
  It was only after a decade away from Skipton that I was finally able to garner the courage to return and testify against my abuser.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Numbers 35:30:
  One witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
To make a statement based on personal knowledge or faith.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, John 3:11:
  We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

Synonyms

bear witness

Related terms

attest
testimony
testimonial

Translations

to make a declaration, or give evidence, under oath

Albanian: dëshmoj (sq)
Arabic: شَهِدَ‎ (ar) (šahida)
Armenian: վկայել (hy) (vkayel), վկայություն տալ (vkayutʿyun 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
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

to make a statement based on personal knowledge or faith

Bulgarian: изразявам (bg) (izrazjavam)
Greek:
Ancient: μαρτυρέω (marturéō)
Hungarian: tanúsít (hu), tanúskodik (hu), tanúságot tesz
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bevitne
Portuguese: atestar (pt)
Romanian: atesta (ro)
Russian: свиде́тельствовать (ru) impf (svidételʹstvovatʹ), засвиде́тельствовать (ru) pf (zasvidételʹstvovatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: svjedòčiti (sh)
Spanish: atestiguar (es), aseverar (es)
Swedish: vittna (sv)
Tagalog: manaksi