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Witness vs Messenger - What's the difference?

witness | messenger | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between witness and messenger

is that witness is to see or gain knowledge of through experience while messenger is to send something by messenger.

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

    *

    messenger

    English

    (wikipedia messenger)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who brings messages.
  • (nautical) A light line with which a heavier line may be hauled e.g. from the deck of a ship to the pier.
  • The supporting member of an aerial cable (electric power or telephone or data).
  • (legal) A person appointed to perform certain ministerial duties under bankrupt and insolvent laws, such as to take charge of the estate of the bankrupt or insolvent.
    • (Bouvier)
    (Tomlins)

    Derived terms

    * instant messenger

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To send something by messenger.
    • I'll messenger over the signed documents.