TESTIFY (testified)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: testified   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does testify mean? 

• TESTIFY (verb)
  The verb TESTIFY has 2 senses:

1. give testimony in a court of law

2. provide evidence for

  Familiarity information: TESTIFY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TESTIFY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they testify    ... he / she / it testifies   
Past simple: testified   
Past participle: testified   
-ing form: testifying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give testimony in a court of law

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

attest; bear witness; take the stand; testify

Hypernyms (to "testify" is one way to...):

declare (state emphatically and authoritatively)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "testify"):

vouch (give personal assurance; guarantee)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They testify that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

testifier (a person who testifies or gives a deposition)

testimony (something that serves as evidence)

testimony (an assertion offering firsthand authentication of a fact)

testimony (a solemn statement made under oath)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide evidence for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bear witness; evidence; prove; show; testify

Context example:

Her behavior testified to her incompetence

Hypernyms (to "testify" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "testify"):

attest; certify; demonstrate; evidence; manifest (provide evidence for; stand as proof of; show by one's behavior, attitude, or external attributes)

presume (constitute reasonable evidence for)

abduce; adduce; cite (advance evidence for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

testifier (a person who testifies or gives a deposition)

testimony (something that serves as evidence)

testimony (an assertion offering firsthand authentication of a fact)

 Context examples 

She wanted to be of use to her; wanted to shew a value for her society, and testify respect and consideration.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"I'll testify that you tried to do it," said Laurie with a grateful look.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He was a huge man, as you can testify, for you have looked upon his corpse.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He relit the stair gas as he spoke, and we saw before us a singular-looking man, whose appearance, as well as his voice, testified to his jangled nerves.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The twins testified their joy by several inconvenient but innocent demonstrations.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I could testify that it was full of strange creatures, and I had seen several land forms of primeval life which we had not before encountered.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I cannot acquit him of that duty; nor could I think well of the man who should omit an occasion of testifying his respect towards anybody connected with the family.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Heaven shower down blessings on you, and save me, that I may again and again testify my gratitude for all your love and kindness.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“Hold your tongue!” Poole said to her, with a ferocity of accent that testified to his own jangled nerves; and indeed, when the girl had so suddenly raised the note of her lamentation, they had all started and turned towards the inner door with faces of dreadful expectation.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

His kindness in stepping forward to her relief, the manner, the silence in which it had passed, the little particulars of the circumstance, with the conviction soon forced on her by the noise he was studiously making with the child, that he meant to avoid hearing her thanks, and rather sought to testify that her conversation was the last of his wants, produced such a confusion of varying, but very painful agitation, as she could not recover from, till enabled by the entrance of Mary and the Miss Musgroves to make over her little patient to their cares, and leave the room.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)