testimonium Latin · revision 7798
16 Oct 2026, 14:34 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Twelve Tables|origins=la testis}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [tɛs.tɪˈmoː.ni.ũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [tes.tiˈmɔː.ni.um]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''testimōnium''' ''n'' (genitive testimōniī or testimōnī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[testis]] “witness” with the suffix [[-mōnium]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) An inscription has ⟨testu-⟩.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is from the Twelve Tables, of a witness's testimony.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates them about 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant evidence given by a witness, testimony, as Plautus' false suits pressed with false testimony and Cicero's ''testimōnium dīcere''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Gaius it meant the attestation of a witness at a legal act, and in Cicero any corroboration, especially a writer's words, and testimony to someone's merits.^(OLD 2012) From the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' it meant a proof, token.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant testimony, evidence, and in canon law a deposition under oath before a judge.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for a witness's signature, a witness, an oath-helper and reputation.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian ''testimonio'' and Spanish ''testimonio'', and Old North French ''testimonie'' gave [[en|testimony]] about 1400.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of testimony.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of false testimony.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a writer's evidence.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1400 – English ''testimony'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # Attestation.^(OLD 2012)
+ # [[m|en|Testimony]], evidence; corroboration.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Testimony to merit.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A proof, token.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A witness; an oath-helper.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[testimonialis]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[testātiō]]
+ * [[testātus]]
+ * [[testificātiō]]
+ * [[testificor]]
+ * [[testis]]
+ * [[testor]]
+ * [[en|testimony]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}