Testify

How to spell testify

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce testify

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does testify mean?

1. verbTo give evidence as a witness, usually under oath in a court of law.
2. verbTo serve as clear evidence or proof of something.

Testify in a sentence

• The accountant agreed to testify about the missing funds at the trial.

• The crowded restaurant seemed to testify to the quality of its food.

• Two neighbours were called to testify regarding what they saw that night.

• The worn tools testify to years of steady, careful work.

Where does testify come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb testificari, meaning 'to bear witness' or 'to give evidence'. It was built from testis, the Latin word for a witness, combined with facere, 'to make', so it literally meant 'to make oneself a witness'. The same testis root underlies a whole family of English legal words, including testimony, attest, and protest, and even the word testament. English took testify in during the 1300s, by way of Old French, where it kept its courtroom sense of swearing to the truth of something. The single 's' and the -ify ending (rather than -efy) are the spots that trip writers up, and remembering the link to 'witness' through testis helps keep the spelling steady.

How the word is built

• test- (from Latin testis: witness)
• -ify (to make, render)