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Origin and history of testimony

testimony(n.)

c. 1400, testimonie, "proof or demonstration of some fact, evidence, piece of evidence;" early 15c., in law, "declaration or sworn statement of a witness," from Old North French testimonie (Old French testimoine, testemoigne, 11c.), from Latin testimonium "evidence, proof, witness, attestation," from testis "a witness, one who attests" (see testament) + -monium, suffix signifying action, state, condition (see -mony). The earlier form in English, from Old French, was testimoigne (c. 1300). The etymology of this word is unlikely to have had anything directly to do with testes (see testis).

The earliest attested sense in English is "the Ten Commandments" (late 14c.), from Vulgate use of Late Latin testimonium, which, along with Greek to martyrion (Septuagint), translates of Hebrew 'eduth "attestation, testimony" (of the Decalogue), from 'ed "witness." The evangelical sense of "open attestation or confession" (of faith) is by 1540s.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to testimony

testament(n.)

late 13c., in law, "last will, expressing the final disposition of one's property," from Latin testamentum "a last will, publication of a will," from testari "make a will, be witness to," from testis "witness," generally accepted to be from PIE *tri-st-i- "third person standing by," from root *tris- "three" (see three) on the notion of "third person, disinterested witness."

Use of testament in reference to the two divisions of the Bible (early 14c.) is from Late Latin vetus testamentum and novum testamentum, loan-translations of Greek palaia diathēkē and kainē diathēkē. But here Late Latin testamentum is a confusion of the two meanings of Greek diathēkē, which meant both "covenant, dispensation" and "will, testament." Testament had been used in the sense of "covenant between God and mankind" in English from early 14c. (as in the account of the Last Supper; see testimony), but the word subsequently was interpreted as Christ's "last will."

testis(n.)

"a testicle," 1704, from Latin testis (plural testes) "testicle," a word usually regarded as a special application of testis "witness" (see testament) on the notion of what "bears witness to male virility" [Barnhart]. Stories that trace the Latin word to some supposed swearing-in ceremony are groundless modern inventions.

Compare Greek parastatai "testicles," from parastates "one that stands by;" and French slang témoins, literally "witnesses." But Buck thinks Greek parastatai "testicles" has been wrongly associated with the legal sense of parastatēs "supporter, defender" and suggests instead parastatai in the sense of twin "supporting pillars, props of a mast," etc. Or it might be a euphemistic use of the word in the sense "comrades." OED (1989), meanwhile, points to Walde's suggestion of a connection between testis and testa "pot, shell, etc." (see tete).