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Witness vs Attend - What's the difference?

witness | attend |

In transitive terms the difference between witness and attend

is that witness is to see or gain knowledge of through experience while attend is (to be present at) To be present at (an event or place) in order to take part in some action or proceedings.

As a noun witness

is attestation of a fact or event; testimony.

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

    *

    attend

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) attenden, atenden, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • ("to kindle").
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) attenden, atenden, from (etyl) ; see tend and compare attempt.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To listen to (something or someone); to pay attention to; regard; heed.
  • * Sir (Philip Sidney) (1554-1586)
  • The diligent pilot in a dangerous tempest doth not attend the unskilful words of the passenger.
  • (archaic) To listen ((to), (unto)).
  • * , chapter=15
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.}}
  • To wait upon as a servant etc.; to accompany to assist (someone).
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • The fifth had charge sick persons to attend .
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Attends the emperor in his royal court.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • With a sore heart and a gloomy brow, he prepared to attend William thither.
  • (senseid)To be present at (an event or place) in order to take part in some action or proceedings.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness. The Celebrity as a matter of course was master of ceremonies.}}
  • * 1994 , (Nelson Mandela), (Long Walk to Freedom) , Abacus 2010, p. 20:
  • I attended a one-room school next door to the palace and studied English, Xhosa, history and geography.
  • To be present with; to accompany; to be united or consequent to.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • What cares must then attend the toiling swain.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
  • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. There is something humiliating about it.
  • To wait for; to await; to remain, abide, or be in store for.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • the state that attends all men after this
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Three days I promised to attend my doom.
    Synonyms
    * (listen to) behear