Meaning & use
bear witness
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Meanings
phrasephrasal verbformal
To state what you saw or know about an event, or to be a living proof that something happened.
Grammar: Verb plus noun; the verb changes (bears, bore, borne) while witness stays the same.
Patterns
- bear witness to something
- bear witness that something is true
She was called to bear witness to what she saw that night.
The ruined walls bear witness to the fire.
Survivors came forward to bear witness to the events.
phrasephrasal verbliterary
To be present at something important so that it is seen and remembered.
Grammar: Often used in a solemn or moral sense: we bear witness to history.
Patterns
- bear witness to something
- bear witness for someone
Journalists bear witness to conflicts so the world cannot look away.
Thousands gathered to bear witness to the ceremony.
The photograph bears witness to a day many wished to forget.
Word forms
| third person singular | bears witness |
|---|---|
| past tense | bore witness |
| past participle | borne witness |
| -ing form | bearing witness |
Common combinations
- bear witness to history
- The old station bears witness to a century of travel.
- bear witness to the truth
- The records bear witness to the truth of her story.
- bear witness in court
- He agreed to bear witness in court.
- bear silent witness
- The empty chairs bear silent witness to the loss.
- bear witness to suffering
- Nurses bear witness to suffering every day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- testify
- Testify is narrower, often meaning to give formal evidence in court, whereas bear witness can also mean being present.
- attest
- Attest means to confirm that something is true or genuine, and is a more formal, compact verb.
- observe
- Observe means only to watch, without the moral or evidential force of bearing witness.
- corroborate
- Corroborate means to support another statement with additional evidence, which is narrower than bear witness.
Word family
- witness noun
- a person who sees an event or gives evidence
- witness verb
- to see something happen
- eyewitness noun
- a person who saw something happen in person
- false witness noun
- a person who lies under oath
Commonly confused: bear witness or bare witness?
bear witness vs bare witness
This spelling is wrong. Bare means uncovered; bear here means carry or give, so the phrase is bear witness.
Practice
Which spelling and form is correct?
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is bear witness. Bare means naked, and an added article breaks the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bear witness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.