testimone Italian · revision 38134

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=before 1527, Niccolò Machiavelli|origins=la testis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tes.tiˈmɔ.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''testimone''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural testimoni)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a back-formation from the plural of [[testimonio]], which was heard as the plural of a noun in ⟨-e⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The older form [[m|roa-oit|testimono]] was made the same way from the plural.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3775) The singular in ⟨-io⟩ is a learned word, [[la|testimōnium|t=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.^(DELI 1999) The Latin noun comes from [[m|la|testis|t=witness]] with the suffix of [[m|la|patrimōnium]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The French word for “witness”, [[fr|témoin]], is the inherited outcome of the same Latin noun, while [[es|testimonio]] means “testimony”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) De Vaan derives the Latin noun from a [[itc-pro|*tri-sto-]], and explains it, following the generally accepted view, as a PIE [[ine-pro|*trito-sth₂-o-|t=third standing by]], a person standing by as a third party.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999) DEI finds the form in ''-o'' in 14th-century Pisa and ''testimone'' in Machiavelli.^(DEI|3775) GRADIT's first date, before 1527, is Machiavelli's use of the word for someone or something that bears out a fact.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999) Older texts use ''testimoni'' of court witnesses: the GDLI quotes Domenico Cavalca on the false witnesses against Saint Stephen.^(GDLI|20, 1002) In 1886 Rigutini observed that ''testimonio'' was still the more common form in Tuscany.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word extends to things that prove or show something, such as ruins that bear witness to an ancient civilization.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In 1955 it became the name of the baton passed between runners in a relay race.^(DELI 1999) Philologists also call ''testimone'' a copy of a work whose original is lost, and geologists a core sample.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante uses ''testimonio'' for a witness.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Testimono'' in Pieraccio Tebaldi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses ''testimone''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1640 – Oudin records the sense “person with direct knowledge of a fact”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – Petrocchi records the legal sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1955 – ''Testimone'' is first recorded for the baton in a relay race.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|witness]], a person who saw an event or knows of it at first hand: ''Ero l'unico testimone della lite.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' A witness called to give evidence in a trial: ''La difesa ha chiamato tre nuovi testimoni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(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.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something that shows or proves a fact; a [[m|en|sign]] or piece of evidence: ''Queste mura sono testimoni di un passato glorioso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sports)'' The [[m|en|baton]] passed in a relay race.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(philology)'' A copy of a work whose original is lost.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(geology)'' A core sample.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[testimoniare]]

+ * [[testimonianza]]

+ * [[testimoniale]]

+ * [[supertestimone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[testimonio]]

+ * [[teste]]

+ * [[la|testimōnium]]

+ * [[fr|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.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) ''Teste'' is a synonym in legal use.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Fixed expressions include ''testimone oculare'' (eyewitness) and ''testimone di Geova'' (Jehovah's Witness).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}