Watched vs Witness - What's the difference?
watched | witness |
(watch)
A portable or wearable timepiece.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
The act of guarding and observing someone or something.
* Milton
* Addison
A particular time period when guarding is kept.
* Shakespeare
* Milton
A person or group of people who guard.
* Bible, Matthew xxvii. 65
The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.
* Shakespeare
(nautical) A group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty: starboard watch'', ''port watch .
(nautical) A period of time on duty, usually four hours in length; the officers and crew who tend the working of a vessel during the same watch. (FM 55–501).
The act of seeing, or viewing, for a period of time.
* 2004 , Charles P. Nemeth, Criminal law
(label) To look at, see, or view for a period of time.
* , chapter=10
, title= (label) To observe over a period of time; to notice or pay attention.
(label) To mind, attend, or guard.
*{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Stephen Crane)
, title=, chapter=1
, passage=[…] (it was the town's humour to be always gassing of phantom investors who were likely to come any moment and pay a thousand prices for everything) — “[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […]”}}
(label) To be wary or cautious of.
(label) To attend to dangers to or regarding.
(label) To remain awake with a sick or dying person; to maintain a vigil.
(label) To be vigilant or on one's guard.
(label) To act as a lookout.
To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place.
To be awake.
* 1485 , (Thomas Malory), (w, Le Morte d'Arthur) , Book X:
Attestation of a fact or event; testimony.
* Shakespeare
One who sees or has personal knowledge of something.
* Shakespeare
* R. Hall
Someone called to give evidence in a court.
Something that serves as evidence; a sign.
* Bible, Genesis xxxi. 51, 52
To furnish proof of, to show.
* 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.
* R. Hall
* Marshall
To present personal religious testimony; to preach at (someone) or on behalf of.
* 1998 , "Niebuhr, Reinhold", Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy , volume 6?, page 842
To see the execution of (a legal instrument), and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity.
As verbs the difference between watched and witness
is that watched is past tense of watch while witness is to furnish proof of, to show.As a noun witness is
attestation of a fact or event; testimony.watched
English
Verb
(head)watch
English
(wikipedia watch)Etymology 1
As a noun, from (etyl) wacche, from (etyl) . See below for verb form.Noun
(es)- More people today carry a watch on their wrists than in their pockets.
- shepherds keeping watch by night
- All the long night their mournful watch they keep.
- The second watch of the night began at midnight.
- I did stand my watch upon the hill.
- Might we but hear / Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock / Count the night watches to his feathery dames.
- The watch stopped the travelers at the city gates.
- Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch ; go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
- He upbraids Iago, that he made him / Brave me upon the watch .
- A quick watch of Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange sends this reality home fast. Amoral, vacuous, cold-blooded, unsympathetic, and chillingly evil describe only parts of the story.
Derived terms
* hurricane watch * on one's watch * on the watch * pocket watch * stand watch * stopwatch * tornado watch * wristwatchEtymology 2
As a verb, from (etyl) wacchen, from (etyl) .Verb
(es)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
- So on the morne Sir Trystram, Sir Gareth and Sir Dynadan arose early and went unto Sir Palomydes chambir, and there they founde hym faste aslepe, for he had all nyght wacched [...].
Usage notes
* When used transitively to mean look at something, there is an implication that the direct object is something which is capable of changing.Antonyms
* ignoreDerived terms
* clock-watcher * watch it * watch like a hawk * watch the pennies * watch this space * watchman * watchtowerSee also
* wait * wake 1000 English basic wordswitness
English
Noun
(es)- She can bear witness , since she was there at the time.
- May we with the witness of a good conscience, pursue him with any further revenge?
- As a witness to the event, I can confirm that he really said that.
- Thyself art witness I am betrothed.
- Upon my looking round, I was witness to appearances which filled me with melancholy and regret.
- The witness for the prosecution did not seem very credible.
- Laban said to Jacob, This heap be witness', and this pillar be ' witness .
Derived terms
* expert witness * eyewitness * key witness * principal witnessVerb
(es)- This certificate witnesses his presence on that day.
- He witnessed the accident.
- This is but a faint sketch of the incalculable calamities and horrors we must expect, should we ever witness the triumphs of modern infidelity.
- General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.
- Instead, Niebuhr's God was the God witnessed to in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, the Bible of the Christian world.
- to witness a bond or a deed