What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Affidavit vs Witness - What's the difference?

affidavit | witness |

As nouns the difference between affidavit and witness

is that affidavit is affidavit while witness is attestation of a fact or event; testimony.

As a verb witness is

to furnish proof of, to show.

affidavit

English

Noun

(en noun) (wikipedia affidavit)
  • (legal) A signed document wherein an affiant makes a sworn statement.
  • * 1959 , William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch , page 142
    • Lee's case is urgent. He has to file an immediate affidavit that he is suffering from bubonic plague to avoid eviction from the house he has occupied ten years without paying the rent.
    He submitted his affidavit rather than appearing to testify in court.

    witness

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • Attestation of a fact or event; testimony.
    • She can bear witness , since she was there at the time.
  • * Shakespeare
    • May we with the witness of a good conscience, pursue him with any further revenge?
  • One who sees or has personal knowledge of something.
    • As a witness to the event, I can confirm that he really said that.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Thyself art witness I am betrothed.
  • * R. Hall
    • Upon my looking round, I was witness to appearances which filled me with melancholy and regret.
  • Someone called to give evidence in a court.
    • The witness for the prosecution did not seem very credible.
  • Something that serves as evidence; a sign.
  • * Bible, Genesis xxxi. 51, 52
    • Laban said to Jacob, This heap be witness', and this pillar be ' witness .

    Derived terms

    * expert witness * eyewitness * key witness * principal witness

    Verb

    (es)
  • To furnish proof of, to show.
    • This certificate witnesses his presence on that day.
  • * 1667': round he throws his baleful eyes / That '''witness'd huge affliction and dismay — John Milton, ''Paradise Lost , Book 1 ll. 56-7
  • To take as evidence.
  • *
  • To see or gain knowledge of through experience.
    • He witnessed the accident.
  • * R. Hall
    • This is but a faint sketch of the incalculable calamities and horrors we must expect, should we ever witness the triumphs of modern infidelity.
  • * Marshall
    • General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.
  • To present personal religious testimony; to preach at (someone) or on behalf of.
  • * 1998 , "Niebuhr, Reinhold", Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy , volume 6?, page 842
    • Instead, Niebuhr's God was the God witnessed to in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, the Bible of the Christian world.
  • To see the execution of (a legal instrument), and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity.
    • to witness a bond or a deed

    Synonyms

    * certify

    Anagrams

    *