Etymologically
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testis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛs.tɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛs.tis][1]

Forms

testis m or f (genitive testis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from ⟨*terstis⟩, from Proto-Italic *tristos, from Proto-Indo-European *tristh₂s (“third person standing by”), from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”) and Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), first meaning one present as a third party.[2][1][3] Compare Oscan trstus (“witnesses”) and Oscan ⟨tristaamentud⟩ “by will”.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, which he dates about 450 BC.[3] The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of a witness in court, and Terence, of a witness to a legal act.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant one present at a legal act to make it valid, a witness, and gods invoked to witness an oath, as in Virgil.[2] From Plautus it meant a witness in court, as his plūris est oculātus testis ūnus quam aurītī decem “one eyewitness is worth ten who heard”, and one who affirms a fact.[2][4] In Ennius places were called on as witnesses, and in Cicero a writer quoted as an authority.[2] From Terence it meant a proof of a fact, and an observer of an event.[2] Isidore says a witness is judged by condition, nature and life.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a witness.[6] Medieval Latin used it for an oath-helper, a champion, and testis Deī a martyr.[7] It was borrowed into Italian as teste.[1] Its derivative testimōnium gave English testimony about 1400.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.[3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a witness in court.[2][3]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a witness to a legal act.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a writer as authority.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A witness to a legal act; a god invoked as witness.[2]
  2. A witness in court.[2]
  3. One who testifies; an authority.[2]
  4. A proof, evidence.[2]
  5. An observer.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) An oath-helper, testis Deī, a martyr.[7]

Word family

Usage notes

The same word, probably by a special use, means a testicle, usually in the plural, as in Horace and Pliny the Elder, and Plautus puns on the two senses.[2][4][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com