testimone

Forms

testimone m or f by sense (plural testimoni)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from the plural of testimonio, which was heard as the plural of a noun in ⟨-e⟩.^[2][3][4][1] The older form testimono was made the same way from the plural.^[2][5] The singular in ⟨-io⟩ is a learned word, Latin testimōnium (“evidence, testimony”), which in Late Latin came to mean the person who gives the evidence, a shift DELI compares with similar ones in English and Swedish.^[2] The Latin noun comes from testis (“witness”) with the suffix of patrimōnium.^[3][1]

The French word for “witness”, French témoin, is the inherited outcome of the same Latin noun, while Spanish testimonio means “testimony”.^[3][6][7] De Vaan derives the Latin noun from a Proto-Italic *tri-sto-, and explains it, following the generally accepted view, as a PIE Proto-Indo-European *trito-sth₂-o- (“third standing by”), a person standing by as a third party.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Testimonio is used of a person, a witness, by Dante in 1293–1294, and the shortened testimono appears in Pieraccio Tebaldi in the 14th century.^[2] DEI finds the form in -o in 14th-century Pisa and testimone in Machiavelli.^[5] GRADIT's first date, before 1527, is Machiavelli's use of the word for someone or something that bears out a fact.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The plain sense “person who knows a fact at first hand” is dated by DELI to Oudin's dictionary of 1640, and the strictly legal sense “person who testifies before a court” to Petrocchi in 1891.^[2] Older texts use testimoni of court witnesses: the GDLI quotes Domenico Cavalca on the false witnesses against Saint Stephen.^[9] In 1886 Rigutini observed that testimonio was still the more common form in Tuscany.^[2]

The word extends to things that prove or show something, such as ruins that bear witness to an ancient civilization.^[4][10] In 1955 it became the name of the baton passed between runners in a relay race.^[2] Philologists also call testimone a copy of a work whose original is lost, and geologists a core sample.^[4]

Timeline

• 1293–1294 – Dante uses testimonio for a witness.^[2]
• 14th century – Testimono in Pieraccio Tebaldi.^[2]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses testimone.^[2][4]
• 1640 – Oudin records the sense “person with direct knowledge of a fact”.^[2]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records the legal sense.^[2]
• 1955 – Testimone is first recorded for the baton in a relay race.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A witness, a person who saw an event or knows of it at first hand: Ero l'unico testimone della lite.^[4][11][10]
2. (law) A witness called to give evidence in a trial: La difesa ha chiamato tre nuovi testimoni.^{[4][11][10][12]}
3. (law) A witness to a public act, such as a contract or a wedding, who signs it with the parties; at a wedding, the best man or maid of honour: Mio fratello ha fatto da testimone al matrimonio di Luca.^{[4][11][10][1]}
4. Something that shows or proves a fact; a sign or piece of evidence: Queste mura sono testimoni di un passato glorioso.^[4][10][12]
5. (sports) The baton passed in a relay race.^{[4][11][10][1]}
6. (philology) A copy of a work whose original is lost.^[4]
7. (geology) A core sample.^[4]

Word family

• testimoniare
• testimonianza
• testimoniale
• supertestimone

Related words

• testimonio
• teste
• Latin testimōnium
• French témoin

Usage notes

The noun is masculine or feminine according to the person (il testimone, la testimone); in the sense “relay baton” it is only masculine.^[4][10][1] Teste is a synonym in legal use.^[10][11] Fixed expressions include testimone oculare (eyewitness) and testimone di Geova (Jehovah's Witness).^[4][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3775
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 1002
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli