Etymologically
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testimone

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Pronunciation

  • /tes.tiˈmɔ.ne/[1]

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

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