witness (subs.) Copy link Outline I. The person witnessing1. testis2. auctor (a warrant, voucher)3. arbĭter, tri, m. (one who is present to hear or see)4. spectātor (a beholder)II. The evidence given • witness (subs.): I. The person witnessing: 1. testis: with me, as with a good judge, arguments have more weight than witnesses, apud me, ut apud bonum judicem, argumenta plus valent quam testes, Cic. Rep. 1, 38, 59: I will produce you w.s, dabo tibi testes, ib. 1, 37, 58: to summon w.s, t. citare, id. Verr. 2, 59, 146: I call you as my w., testem te testor mihi, Pl. Rud. 5, 2, 51: what you owe, Rome, to the Neros, the river Metaurus is w., quid debeas, O Roma, Neronibus testis Metaurum flumen, Hor. Od. 4, 4, 38. 2. auctor (a warrant, voucher): when this from one w. had made its way to many, one passing it on to another, there seemed to be many w.s to the fact, hoc ubi uno auctore ad plures permanaverat, atque alius alii transdiderat, plures auctores ejus rei videbantur, Caes. B. C. 2, 29. 3. arbĭter, tri, m. (one who is present to hear or see): Pomponius rose, and having removed all w.s, bade the young man come to him, Pomponius surrexit remotisque arbitris ad se adolescentem jussit venire, Cic. Off. 3, 31, 112. 4. spectātor (a beholder): a w. of the contest, spectator certaminis, Liv. 1, 28: v. eyewitness, spectator. II. The evidence given: testĭmōnium: to bear w. against any one, testimonium in aliquem dicere, Cic. Rosc. Am. 36, 102: false w., falsa testimonia, Pl. Rud. prol. 13: to deliver by way of w., dicere pro testimonio, Cic. Rosc. Am. 35, 101: v. evidence. Phr.: to invoke as w.: testari, testificari: I invoke all men and gods as w.s, omnes homines deosque testor, Cic. Caecin. 29, 83: he invoked as w.s men, she a goddess, ille homines, haec est testificata deam, Ov. H. 20, 160: to call as w. to a summons, antestari (of the plaintiff when summoning the defendant into court: cf. Hor. S. 1, 9, 76): to bear w., testari, testificari: v. to witness.
witness (v.) Copy link Outline I. To attest1. testor, 12. attestor, 13. testĭfĭcor, 1II. To see, behold, observe • witness (v.): I. To attest: 1. testor, 1: I confess, you may w., Quirites, set your seal thereto, confiteor, testere licet, signate Quirites, Ov. Pont. 4, 15, 11: that the matter might be better w.'d to by the eyes of many, ut res multorum oculis esset testatior, Cic. Coel. 27, 64. 2. attestor, 1: a short fable of Aesop w.s this, hoc attestatur brevis Aesopi fabula, Phaedr. 1, 10, 3. 3. testĭfĭcor, 1: you w. what I have at any time said or written, testificaris quid dixerim aliquando aut scripserim, Cic. Tusc. 5, 11, 33. The Latin verbs are more used in the general sense to protest, aver; for the strictly legal sense some phrase with testis, testimonium seems preferred. II. To see, behold, observe: v. to see, to behold, to observe.
WITNESS Copy link • WITNESS 1. s. Testimony, testimonium. To bear witness, testem esse; testimonium dicere; pro testimonio dicere; testari; testiricari: to bear false witness, falsum testimonium dicere or praebere: the very words bear witness to the fact, ejus rei ipsa verba testimonio sunt: to call to witness, testari aliquem; testem facere aliquem; God, Deum testari or Deum invocare testem; gods and men, deos hominesque testari or contestari: antestari aliquem (in legal matters, before the introduction of a cause into court. The question put was, licet antestari? If the party consented, the person appealing to him touched the tip of his ear. In non-judicial matters it occurs only in Cic. pro Milone, 25, 68). One who bears, testimony, testis. To call a witness, testem citare: to bring a witness, testem producere: to call a witness to prove, testem citare or vocare in testimonium alicujus rei. 2. v. To attest, testari (general term): attestari: testificari: testimonio confirmare (confirm by one’s evidence): testimonio esse: testem esse (to be a witness; the former of things, the latter of persons): affirmare (to affirm positively): clamare (to cry out). To see, observe, Vid.