Tĕs'ti-mo-ny1, n.
(50), n. [Lat. testimonium, from testari, to be a witness, to testify, to attest; It. & Sp. testimonio, Pr. testimoni, O. Fr. testimonie, testemoine, N. Fr. témoignage. See TESTAMENT.]
Sense 1. A solemn declaration or affirmation made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact.
☞ Such affirmation, in judicial proceedings, may be verbal or written, but must be under oath or affirmation. Testimony differs from evidence. Testimony is the declaration of a witness, and evidence is the effect of that declaration on the mind, or the degree of light which it affords.
Sense 2. Affirmation; declaration; as, these doctrines are supported by the uniform testimony of the fathers; the belief of past facts must depend on the evidence of human testimony, or the testimony of historians.
Sense 3. Open attestation; profession.
Thou, for the testimony of truth, hast borne Universal reproach. Milton.
Sense 4. Witness; evidence; proof of some fact.
Sense 5. That which is equivalent to a declaration; manifestation; expression or correct manifestation.
Shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Mark vi. 11.
Sacrifices were appointed by God for a testimony of his hatred of sin. Clarke.
Sense 6. (Jewish Antiq.) The two tables of the law.
Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. Ex. xxv. 16.
Sense 7. Hence, the whole divine revelation; the sacred Scriptures.
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Ps. xix. 7.
Synonyms— Proof; evidence; attestation; witness; affirmation; confirmation. — TESTIMONY, PROOF, EVIDENCE. Proof, being Anglo-Saxon, is most familiar, and is used more frequently (though not exclusively) as to facts and things which occur in the ordinary concerns of life. Evidence is a word of more dignity, and is more generally applied to that which is moral or intellectual; as, the evidences of Christianity, &c. Testimony is strictly the evidence of a witness given under oath; when used figuratively or in a wider sense, the word testimony has still a reference to some living agent as its author, as when we speak of the testimony of conscience, or of doing a thing in testimony of our affection, &c. “To conform our language more to common use, we ought to divide arguments into demonstrations, proofs, and probabilities; by proofs, meaning such arguments from experience as leave no room for doubt or opposition.” Hume. “The evidence of sense is the first and highest kind of evidence of which human nature is capable.” Wilkins. “The proof of every thing must be by the testimony of such as the parties produce.” Spenser.