testimony

American  

[tes-tuh-moh-nee, -muh-nee] / ˈtɛs təˌmoʊ ni, -mə ni /

noun

• testimonies
  plural

1. Law. the statement or declaration of a witness under oath or affirmation, usually in court.

   Synonyms:

   attestation, deposition

2. evidence in support of a fact or statement; proof.

   Synonyms:

   corroboration

3. open declaration or profession, as of faith.

   Synonyms:

   affirmation

4. Usually testimonies. the precepts of God.

5. the Decalogue as inscribed on the two tablets of the law, or the ark in which the tablets were kept. Exodus 16:34; 25:16.

6. Archaic. a declaration of disapproval; protest.

---

testimony British  

/ ˈtɛstɪmənɪ /

noun

1. a declaration of truth or fact

2. law evidence given by a witness, esp orally in court under oath or affirmation

3. evidence testifying to something

   her success was a testimony to her good luck

4. Old Testament

   1. the Ten Commandments, as inscribed on the two stone tables

   2. the Ark of the Covenant as the receptacle of these (Exodus 25:16; 16:34)

---

Synonym Usage

See evidence.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pretestimony
  noun
• retestimony
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• testimonies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of testimony

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin testimōnium, equivalent to testi(s) “witness” + -mōnium noun suffix; see -mony

Explanation

When you give testimony you are telling what you saw or what you know. Your testimony that your hand was not in the cookie jar goes against the testimony of several eyewitnesses. The Latin root for testimony is testis, meaning “ witness.” “Eye witness testimony” is a phrase you will hear often in legal discussions. An object can also give testimony, without speaking of course: "The statue they built of you outside the bowling alley offers testimony to your greatness."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

testimony testimonies

Mr. Shem Tov’s testimony shows what that “but” leaves out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Going to trial could expose TikTok to unprecedented public scrutiny of how it handles safety internally, with company documents and executive testimony potentially aired in open court.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

So he suggested that he and Zia, together with her school friends Wanda Hamidah and Mahima Eka, gather corroborating evidence to support her testimony.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Four actors, affixed with in-ear monitors, occupy different seats as testimony is elicited, provided and undermined.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

The probable cause showing could be based on nothing more than hearsay, innuendo, or even the paid, self-serving testimony of someone with interests clearly adverse to the property owner.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Mr. Bonds is as friendly as a whistling postman and, more than that, a baseball genius, according to testimonies from such worthies as Don Mattingly and Dusty Baker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

The first phase of the inquiry has already heard the personal testimonies of those bereaved and injured in the Real IRA bombing.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

During a supervised visit to a Ukrainian detention centre in February, AFP collected similar testimonies from foreign prisoners of war who had fought for Russia.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

Clancy, who gave birth to her youngest child in May 2022, began experiencing anxiety about returning to work as a labor and delivery nurse after maternity leave, according to trial testimonies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

In this they are quite unlike testimonies, which degrade as they pass from ear to ear in an endless game of Chinese whispers; eighteenth-century probability theorists actually devised formulae for calculating this rate of degradation.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• affidavit
• data
• demonstration
• deposition
• documentation
• evidence
• information
• statement
• testament
• witness