Attested

How to spell attested

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce attested

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does attested mean?

1. verbDeclared or shown to be true, genuine, or valid, typically through formal evidence or a witness.

Attested in a sentence

• The documents were attested by a solicitor before the sale closed.

• The rapid growth of the company is well attested in the audited accounts.

Where does attested come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb attestari, meaning 'to bear witness to' or 'to confirm', which was formed from the prefix ad- (here softened to at-, meaning 'to') and testari, 'to testify' or 'to call as a witness'. The deeper root is testis, the Latin noun for a witness, the same source that gives English 'testify', 'testimony', and 'protest'. English took the verb 'attest' from French attester in the late 1500s, and 'attested' is simply its past form and participle. The literal idea of standing as a witness explains the modern meaning: something attested has been formally vouched for or confirmed. The single t after the 'a' is the spelling trap, since the prefix lost its d to match the t of the root, leaving the double t in the middle rather than at the start.

How the word is built

• at- (assimilated form of ad-: to)
• test (from testis: witness)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)