English
witness
Witness comes from Middle English witnesse, from Old English ġewitnes ‘witness, testimony’, equivalent to wit + -ness.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ġewitnes‘witness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500witnesse
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591witness
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ġewitnes‘witness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500witnesse
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591witness
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “[…]thyself art witness— I am betrothed.”
Formed from wit + -ness
Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’
…
Proto-Germanic *witją ‘knowledge’
Proto-West Germanic *witi ‘knowledge’
Old English witt ‘mind, sanity, sense, understanding’
Middle English wit ‘mind, sanity’
English wit
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’
story, video, guy, idea, provide, evidence, review, advice, interview, visit, guide, vision, historic, wise, visa, advise, invisible, wisdom, evident, idol, historian, wizard, vista, visibility, revise, guise, prudent, wit, steroid, tabloid, envious, jurisprudence, prudence, witty, revue, improvise, druid, vide, avis, purview, 120 more
Today it means
noun Attestation of a fact or event; testimony.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English ġewitnes / witness