testify

English

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

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/

• 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) (ambitransitive)

1. To make a declaration, or give evidence, under oath.
   • 2014 August 29, Ruzwana Bashir, “The untold story of how a culture of shame perpetuates abuse. I know, I was a victim”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     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.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 35:30:

     One witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

2. To make a statement based on personal knowledge or faith.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 3:11:

     We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

   • 1733, Tho[mas] 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:

     [T]he pleaſures of ſenſe have no reliſh vvhere thou [Jesus] irradiateſt and teſtifieſt vvith our conſcience, that vve are the children of God, and have done thy vvill ſincerely, […]

3. (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

Conjugation of testify

infinitive	(to) testify
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	testify	testified
2nd-person singular	testify, testifiest†	testified, testifiedst†
3rd-person singular	testifies, testifieth†	testified
plural	testify
subjunctive	testify	testified
imperative	testify	—
participles	testifying	testified

^† Archaic or obsolete.

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 (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

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

See also

• compel testimony

Further reading

• “testify”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “testify”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.