What is "witness"

Witness \Wit"ness\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Witnessed; p. pr. & vb. n. Witnessing.]

1. To see or know by personal presence; to have direct cognizance of.

   This is but a faint sketch of the incalculable calamities and horrors we must expect, should we ever witness the triumphs of modern infidelity.
   --R. Hall.

   General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.
   --Marshall.

2. To give testimony to; to testify to; to attest.

   Behold how many things they witness against thee.
   --Mark xv. 4.

3. (Law) To see the execution of, as an instrument, and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity; as, to witness a bond or a deed.

Witness \Wit"ness\, n. [AS. witness, gewitnes, from witan to know. [root]133. See Wit, v. i.]

1. Attestation of a fact or an event; testimony.

   May we with . . . the witness of a good conscience, pursue him with any further revenge?
   --Shak.

   If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
   --John v. 31.

2. That which furnishes evidence or proof.

   Laban said to Jacob, . . . This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness.
   --Gen. xxxi. 51, 52.

3. One who is cognizant; a person who beholds, or otherwise has personal knowledge of, anything; as, an eyewitness; an earwitness. ``Thyself art witness I am betrothed.''
   --Shak.

   Upon my looking round, I was witness to appearances which filled me with melancholy and regret.
   --R. Hall.

4. (Law)

   1. One who testifies in a cause, or gives evidence before a judicial tribunal; as, the witness in court agreed in all essential facts.

   2. One who sees the execution of an instrument, and subscribes it for the purpose of confirming its authenticity by his testimony; one who witnesses a will, a deed, a marriage, or the like.

      Privileged witnesses. (Law) See under Privileged.

      With a witness, effectually; to a great degree; with great force, so as to leave some mark as a testimony. [Colloq.]

      This, I confess, is haste with a witness.
      --South.

Witness \Wit"ness\, v. i. To bear testimony; to give evidence; to testify.
--Chaucer.

The men of Belial witnessed against him.
--1 Kings xxi. 13.

The witnessing of the truth was then so generally attended with this event [martyrdom] that martyrdom now signifies not only to witness, but to witness to death.
--South.

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.

n. 1 attestation of a fact or event; testimony. 2 One who sees or has personal knowledge of something. 3 Someone called to give evidence in a court. 4 Something that serves as evidence; a sign. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To furnish proof of, to show. 2 (context transitive English) To take as evidence. 3 (context transitive English) To see or gain knowledge of through experience. 4 (context intransitive construed with '''to''' or '''for''' English) To present personal religious testimony; to preach at (someone) or on behalf of. 5 To see the execution of (a legal instrument), and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity.

1. n. someone who sees an event and reports what happened [syn: witnesser, informant]

2. a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind); "the spectators applauded the performance"; "television viewers"; "sky watchers discovered a new star" [syn: spectator, viewer, watcher, looker]

3. testimony by word or deed to your religious faith

4. (law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature [syn: attestant, attestor, attestator]

5. (law) a person who testifies under oath in a court of law

1. v. be a witness to

2. perceive or be contemporaneous with; "We found Republicans winning the offices"; "You'll see a lot of cheating in this school"; "I want to see results"; "The 1960 saw the rebellion of the younger generation against established traditions"; "I want to see results" [syn: find, see]

A witness is someone who has first-hand knowledge of something, especially crime or dramatic event, and usually by seeing it.

Witness may also refer to:

WITNESS is a human rights non-profit organization based out of Brooklyn, New York. Its mission is to partner with on-the-ground organizations to support the documentation of human rights violations and their consequences, in order to further public engagement, policy change, and justice. Witness has partnered with more than 300 human rights groups in over 80 countries.1

Witness is a Canadian documentary television series which was broadcast from 1992 to 2004. Various independently produced documentaries were introduced by host Knowlton Nash.

The Witness is the name of at least three fictional, American comic-book characters, the first published by Timely Comics in the 1940s and the final two by its successor company, Marvel Comics.

A witness is someone who has, who claims to have, or is thought, by someone with authority to compel testimony, to have knowledge relevant to an event or other matter of interest. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what he or she knows or claims to know about the matter before some official authorized to take such testimony.

A percipient witness or eyewitness is one who testifies what they perceived through his or her senses (e.g. seeing, hearing, smelling, touching). That perception might be either with the unaided human sense or with the aid of an instrument, e.g., microscope or stethoscope, or by other scientific means, e.g.,a chemical reagent which changes color in the presence of a particular substance.

A hearsay witness is one who testifies what someone else said or wrote. In most court proceedings there are many limitations on when hearsay evidence is admissible. Such limitations do not apply to grand jury investigations, many administrative proceedings, and may not apply to declarations used in support of an arrest or search warrant. Also some types of statements are not deemed to be hearsay and are not subject to such limitations.

An expert witness is one who allegedly has specialized knowledge relevant to the matter of interest, which knowledge purportedly helps to either make sense of other evidence, including other testimony, documentary evidence or physical evidence (e.g., a fingerprint). An expert witness may or may not also be a percipient witness, as in a doctor or may or may not have treated the victim of an accident or crime.

A reputation witness is one who testifies about the reputation of a person or business entity, when reputation is material to the dispute at issue.

In law a witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jury, before an administrative tribunal, before a deposition officer, or in a variety of other proceedings (e.g., judgment debtor examination). Sometimes the testimony is provided in public or in a confidential setting (e.g., grand jury or closed court proceeding).

Although informally a witness includes whoever perceived the event, in law, a witness is different from an informant. A confidential informant is someone who claimed to have witnessed an event or have hearsay information, but whose identity is being withheld from at least one party (typically the criminal defendant). The information from the confidential informant may have been used by a police officer or other official acting as a hearsay witness to obtain a search warrant.

A subpoena commands a person to appear. It is used to compel the testimony of a witness in a trial. Usually, it can be issued by a judge or by the lawyer representing the plaintiff or the defendant in a civil trial or by the prosecutor or the defense attorney in a criminal proceeding. In many jurisdictions, it is compulsory to comply, to take an oath, and to tell the truth, under penalty of perjury.

Witness is a 1985 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The screenplay by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, and Earl W. Wallace focuses on a detective protecting a young Amish boy who becomes a target after he witnesses a murder in Philadelphia.

The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two, for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for seven BAFTA Awards, winning one for Maurice Jarre's score, and was also nominated for six Golden Globe Awards. William Kelley and Earl W. Wallace won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and the 1986 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay presented by the Mystery Writers of America.

Witness is the twelfth studio album by British folk duo Show of Hands. The album was recorded in January 2006 at Presshouse Studio, Colyton, Devon, and was produced by Simon Emmerson and Simon ‘Mass’ Massey from the Afro Celts, who helped to incorporate elements of traditional African, ambient and electronic dance music with the duo's characteristic folk style. It was the band's first album in twelve years to use a rhythm section. Lyrically, the album addresses communal and heritage values, and was described by the duo's lead singer Steve Knightley as a "cinematic style journey of the West Country." The album features unofficial third member Miranda Sykes on ten of its twelve tracks.

It was released in May 2006 on the band's Hands on Music label, with the catalogue number HMCD23. Although some fans were perplexed by the duo's new direction, many welcomed it and it received a positive reception from critics. Mojo Magazine ranked Witness at number 10 on their best folk albums of 2006 list. The album became the band's best-selling to date. To promote the album, "Witness", "If I Needed Someone" and "Roots" were singles. The latter also had a music video produced, parts of which were filmed at the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. The duo toured the album from 2006–2007, culminating in a unique "Tour of Topsham" pubs.

Witness were a British alternative rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1997. The band released two albums via Island Records between 1999 and 2001, before splitting up in 2004.

Witness was a French grunge band. The band start in 1989 and created two albums (Smooth and Grimace) and 3 EP (Witness, Elec-oustic and Word Give). Witness split in 2001.

Witness is the 18th album by trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the RCA label in 2001 and features performances by Douglas, Chris Speed, Joe Daley, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Drew Gress, Bryan Carrott, Michael Sarin, Ikue Mori, Joshua Roseman and Yuka Honda with Tom Waits providing vocals on one track.

"Witness (1 Hope)" (occasionally known as "Witness the Fitness") is a song by British rapper Roots Manuva, released as the first single from his second studio album Run Come Save Me (2001). A hip hop song with influences of dancehall and funk music and an electronically-inspired bass line, it contains lyrical references to Roots Manuva's British cultural roots with a deliberately similar melody to the theme song to TV show Doctor Who. Record labels Big Dada and Ninja Tune released "Witness (1 Hope)" in various formats during July 2001.

The song was a minor commercial success in the United Kingdom, where it briefly appeared on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 45 in August 2001, and won much acclaim from music critics for the musically diverse production and also Roots Manuva's embrace of his own cultural tropes, in contrast to the American cultural features used throughout much hip hop, including in Britain, at the time. A music video for "Witness (1 Hope)" directed by Mat Kirkby, which features Roots Manuva taking part in a sports day at his previous, real-life primary school, also won praise for its humorous and original plot.

Witness is the name of an altar in . The name appears in this form in the New King James Version, the English Standard Version and the New Living Translation. The King James Version merely transliterates the original Hebrew word Ed, while the New International Version regards all of the following words as the name of the altar: "A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God."

In Joshua 22, the Transjordanian tribes cross over the Jordan River after having assisted in the conquest of the land. They then build a massive altar by the Jordan. This causes the "whole congregation of the Israelites" to prepare for war, but they first send to the Transjordanian tribes a delegation led by Phinehas. They accuse them of making God angry and suggesting that their land may be unclean. In response to this, the Transjordanian tribes say that the altar is not for offerings, but is only a "witness". The western tribes are satisfied, and return home.

The altar's construction concerned the other tribes who felt that there should only be one altar, but the eastern tribes built it only as a testimony to their faith, and not as a working altar. The eastern tribes named the altar "Witness" to fit this.

Assis argues that the unusual dimensions of the altar suggest that it "was not meant for sacrificial use", but was, in fact, "meant to attract the attention of the other tribes" and provoke a reaction. Davis regards the Transjordanians' action as "the first in a series of independent acts on the part of the various tribes which would lead to a later fragmentation of the tribes of Israel," and the construction of the altar as a "departure of God's plan for centralized worship."

The location of the altar has also been disputed. Snaith asserts that it was "at Gilgal, on the west bank of the Jordan", while Assis argues that it was built east of the Jordan.

The name of the altar is not clear in the Masoretic Text, and the text could be corrupted at this point. It reads "The Reubenites and the Gadites named the altar because it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God." Some textual scholars suspect that the name of the altar must have been dropped by a copyist, either deliberately or unintentionally.

Witness is the second album released by Iowa hardcore quintet Modern Life Is War, released in 2005 via Deathwish Inc. This is the last M.L.I.W. album to feature Chris Honeck on bass and Matt Hoffman on guitar, as both members would leave the band after the album's release. The album cover was created by Converge singer J. Bannon, and features an image of Main Street, Marshalltown - the city in Iowa where the band members are from - taken in 1896.

Building on the success and hype of M.L.I.W.'s previous album, 2003's My Love. My Way., Witness became a watershed record for the band, selling well in hardcore circles and achieving acclaim from numerous music publications and website reviews. It is normally considered the band's finest release.

The song "Martin Atchet" is based on Peter Milligan's graphic novel Skin, which revolves around the story of a young skinhead, Martin Atchitson, who grew up in 1970's London with thalidomide-related birth defects.

To commemorate its 10th anniversary, Modern Life is War will reissue a remastered version of their 2005 album Witness with updated packaging and liner notes on June 2, 2015 followed by a nine-date North American tour.

Witness is an album released by Spooky Tooth in 1973. For this album, original drummer Mike Kellie returned and substantially replaced Bryson Graham. Gary Wright remained the dominant songwriter at this stage of the band's history. Co-lead singer Mike Harrison left the band following the release of the album. The album was remastered and re-released on compact disc (CD) in 2005 by Repertoire.

In mathematical logic, a witness is a specific value t to be substituted for variable x of an existential statement of the form ∃x φ(x) such that φ(t) is true.

Witness is a 1988 Malayalam language investigative thriller made in India, directed by Viji Thampi and co-written by Jagathy Sreekumar, starring Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Jagathy Sreekumar, Parvathy, Madhu and Sukumaran.

Witness was the name of an evangelical newspaper established in 1840 by the Scottish geologist and writer, Hugh Miller. He continued to edit the paper at an office on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh until his suicide in December 1856. He was the principal contributor to the publication, averaging over 10,000 words a week.

Witness is a free poetry book of historical fiction written by Karen Hesse in 2001, concentrating on racism in a rural Vermont town in 1924. Voices include those of Leanora Sutter, a 12-year-old African American girl; Esther Hirsh, a 6-year-old girl from New York; Sara Chickering, a quiet spinster farmer; Iris Weaver, a young restaurant owner, bootlegger and illegal booze runner; Reynard Alexander, the town newspaper editor; Merlin van Tornhout, an arrogant teen 18-year-old; Johnny Reeves, the town preacher; and Percelle Johnson, town constable, age 66, Viola Pettibone, a store owner, along with her husband, Harvey Pettibone —among several others, some of whom removed to join the newly arrived Ku Klux Klan including: Johnny Reeves, Merlin Van Tornhout and shopkeeper Harvey Pettibone.

In Witness, Hesse continues the distinctive poetic style she pioneered in Out of the Dust (1998). The two books are part of a notable recent cluster of verse novels for children and young adults.

It is in first-person narration, though with each new page a different narrator is used forming a series of monologues by different characters affected by the same series of actions. The book is split into five acts.

Witness is a literary and issue-oriented magazine published by the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV. Each issue includes fiction, poetry, memoir, and literary essays. The magazine has been honored with ten grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and writings from the journal have been recognized in The Best American Essays, The O. Henry Prize Stories, The Best American Poetry, and The Pushcart Prize.

Launched in Detroit in 1987, Witness has published 43 issues, twenty of them focused on topics of contemporary interest. The magazine is best known for showcasing work that defines its historical moment. Special issues have focused on political oppression, religion, the natural world, crime, aging, civil rights, love, ethnic America, and, most recently, exile. The issues "New Nature Writing," "The Sixties," "Sports in America," and "The Best of Witness, 1987 - 2004" eventually appeared as university press anthologies. In 2007, Witness moved from Oakland Community College to Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Witness is the second full-length studio album by Blessthefall. It was released on October 6, 2009, through Fearless Records. It is the band's first album with Beau Bokan on lead vocals and final album with guitarist Mike Frisby. The album was co-produced with There for Tomorrow drummer, Christopher Kamrada.

The song "God Wears Gucci" was released on MySpace and iTunes on Tuesday, August 11, 2009, and is the third song released off the album, along with "To Hell and Back" and "We'll Sleep When We're Dead", although these were demonstrations to the album versions. On September 9 the band uploaded a new track on their Myspace entitled "What's Left of Me". The entire album was streaming on their MySpace page until October 6, 2009. The album was released for sale in the US on October 6, 2009, with a European release date of the October 26 scheduled, ahead of their first ever European headline tour in support of the album. Witness sold 11,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 56 on Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the Top Independent Albums chart.

The song "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted" has been released as downloadable content for Rock Band on the Xbox 360. The song "To Hell and Back" was featured on the soundtrack to Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Conviction. The song and the game trailer was released around the start of April 2010. The songs "God Wears Gucci" and "To Hell and Back" are downloadable tracks in the iOS game Tap Tap Revenge 4.

Witness is the flagship documentary television programme that airs on Al Jazeera English. The programme showcases documentaries commissioned from independent filmmakers around the world. The films focus on stories that receive less international coverage and "people at the margins of society."

Witness was one of the first programmes on Al Jazeera English and has been airing since the channel's inception in November 2006. The primary broadcast windows are Sundays for their half-hour programmes and Wednesdays for their hour-long programmes with repeats appearing throughout the week. It is also available online.

The show has won multiple documentary awards including the Peabody and the International Emmy and been nominated for many others including an Academy Award, One World, Rory Peck Trust and Gierson. The programme team has also served as the creative staff behind other Al Jazeera English series including Viewfinder Latin America (2012-2015) and Viewfinder Asia (2012-2014), Artscape (2009–2014), Wildlife Warzone (2013) and in 2014, Rebel Architecture.

Witness is a one-act play by Terrence McNally which premiered Off-Broadway in 1968.

"Witness" is the 12th episode of the first season of the CW television series The Secret Circle, and the series' 12th episode overall. It was aired on January 19, 2012. The episode was written by Dana Baratta and it was directed by Eagle Egilsson.

Witness was a contemporary gospel group from Detroit, Michigan. Often called the female version of Commissioned, an all-male contemporary gospel group, they were the brainchild of and chiefly produced by Michael A. Brooks, an original member and producer of Commissioned.

Witness is an Atlanta rock band that was signed to Arista Records in 1980 under the name Native & after changing their name, put out their self-titled debut album in 1981. The band consisted of lead singer Debbie Davis, guitarist Damon Johnson, bassist Eddie Usher, keyboardist Joey Huffman & drummer Eddie Boyd.

After signing, the band relocated to San Francisco, CA to record the debut album. The album was produced by Bill Drescher & Kevin Elson & mixed/engineered by Drescher. The band, however, didn't write their own debut with singer Davis being credited with only 3 songs... "Jump Into the Fire", "Borrowed Time", and "Back to You".... the last 2 co-written by keyboardist Huffman as well as Journey guitarist Neil Schon. Michael Bolton wrote " Am I Wrong". Schon as well as fellow Journey drummer Steve Smith, Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis & 38 Special guitarist Danny Chauncey all featured prominently on the album. Unfortunately, this meant that neither Damon Johnson or Eddie Usher played on the recording. The album's first single/video for "Do It Til We Drop" got major Mtv airplay on Headbangers Ball in 1988 and was partially filmed when the band opened a 1987 concert for Lynyrd Skynyrd. The album opener 'Show Me What You Got' featured Gillis on the guitar solo and other album highlights include "Let Me Be the One", and "You're Not My Lover".

The band broke up after the first album, but three of the members went on to bigger/better success. Guitarist Damon Johnson, who didn't play on the album, became the frontman for Brother Cane and later became guitarist for Alice Cooper and Thin Lizzy. Keyboardist Joey Huffman later joined Brother Cane, Matchbox 20 and Soul Asylum. Singer Debbie Davis became a backup singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd on their 1994 tour.