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"witness" in seven languages

Meaningwitness

Spanish

testigo

/tesˈtigo/

masc.other source · Old Spanish testiguar 'to testify', from Latin TESTIFICĀRE

French

témoin

/temwɛ̃/

masc.inherited

Italian

testimone

/testiˈmone/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

testemunha

/testeˈmuɲɐ/

fem.inherited

Always feminine, even for a man.

Romanian

martor

/ˈmartor/

masc.other source · Latin MARTYREM 'witness; martyr' (from Greek mártys)

Catalan

testimoni

/təstiˈmɔni/

masc.learned

Semi-learned, like patrimoni and matrimoni.

English

witness

/ˈwɪtnəs/

native English · Old English witnes

English → ItalianwitnesstestimoneNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: testimony, testify, testament.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

TESTIMŌNIUM‘testimony, evidence’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Latin TESTIMŌNIUM meant the evidence; French témoin and Italian testimone turned it into the person giving it, French losing its s before t (written é). Spanish testigo comes from a verb, 'to testify'. All share TESTIS 'witness'.

English relatives: testimony, testify, testament

Sound laws at work

French loses S before a consonant (^)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esNo hubo testigos.
  • frIl n'y avait pas de témoins.
  • itNon c'erano testimoni.
  • ptNão houve testemunhas.
  • roNu au fost martori.
  • caNo hi va haver testimonis.
  • enThere were no witnesses.

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