different between remembrance vs witness

English

Etymology

From Old French remembrance, from remembrer (“to remember”), from Late Latin rememor?r? (“to call to mind, to remember”). Equivalent to remember +? -ance.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??.?m?m.b??ns/
• Hyphenation: re?mem?brance

Noun

remembrance (countable and uncountable, plural remembrances)

1. The act of remembering; a holding in mind, or bringing to mind; recollection.
   • 1705, Joseph Addison, “Bolonia, Modena, Parma, Turin, &c.”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, OCLC 181833922; republished The Hague: Printed for Henry Scheurleer, 1718, OCLC 224641578, page 292:

     For Titan, by the mightly Lo?s [of Phaëthon] di?may'd, / Among the Heav'ns th'Immortal Fact di?play'd, / Le?t the remembrance of his Grief ?hould fail, / And in Con?tellations wrote his Tale. [Translation of a work by Claudian.]

2. The state of being remembered, or held in mind; memory, recollection.
   • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which is to Come: Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream wherein is Discovered, the Manner of His Setting Out, His Dangerous Journey; and Safe Arrival at the Desired Countrey, London: Printed for Nath[aniel] Ponder at the Peacock in the Poultrey near Cornhill, OCLC 733063856; republished as The Pilgrim's Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan: Being a Fac-simile Reproduction of the First Edition, London: Elliot Stock, 1875, OCLC 34741916, page 77:

     Yes, and did ?ee ?uch things there, the remembrance of which will ?tick by me as long as I live; ?pecially three things, to wit, How Chri?t, in de?pite of Satan, maintains his work of Grace in the heart; how the Man had ?inned him?elf quite out of hopes of Gods mercy; and al?o the Dream of him that thought in his ?leep the day of Judgement was come.

   • 1725–1726, Homer; Alexander Pope and William Broome, transl., The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646; republished as H[enry] F[rancis] Cary, editor, The Odyssey of Homer: Translated by Alexander Pope, London: George Routledge and Sons, the Broadway, Ludgate; New York, N.Y.: 416, Broome Street, 1872, OCLC 880970094, book VIII, page 381:

     […] Nausicaa blooming as a goddess stands, / With wondering eyes the hero [Odysseus] she survey'd / And grateful thus began the royal maid: / 'Hail, godlike stranger! and when heaven restores / To thy fond wish thy long-expected shores, / This, ever grateful, in remembrance bear, / To me thou owest, to me, the vital air.'
3. Something remembered; a person or thing kept in memory.
4. That which serves to keep in or bring to mind; a memento, a memorial, a souvenir, a token; a memorandum or note of something to be remembered.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. Disposed into Twelue Books, Fashioning XII. Morall Vertues, London: Printed for W[illiam] Ponsonbie, OCLC 18024649, book I, canto I, stanzas I and II; republished in John Hughes, editor, The Works of Mr. Edmund Spenser. In Six Volumes. With a Glossary Explaining the Old and Obscure Words, volume I, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson at Shakespear's Head, over against Catherine-street in the Strand, 1715, OCLC 175074, page 23:

     [stanza I] A Gentle Knight was pricking on the Plain, / Yclad in mightie Arms and ?ilver Shield, […] / [stanza II] And on his Brea?t a bloody Cro?s he bore, / The dear remembrance of his dying Lord, / For who?e ?weet ?ake that glorious Badge he wore, / And dead (as living) ever him ador'd: […]

5. The power of remembering; the reach of personal knowledge; the period over which one's memory extends.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker under Creed Church neer Aldgate; and by Robert Boulter at the Turks Head in Bishopsgate-street; and Matthias Walker, under St. Dunstons Church in Fleet-street, OCLC 767532218, book VIII; republished as Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books, London: Printed for C. Hitch and L. Hawes, J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, B. Dod, J[ohn] Rivington, J. Ward, J. Richardson, S. Crowder and Co., T[homas] Longman, E. Dilly, and A. and C. Corbet, 1760, OCLC 946737211, page 211, lines 203–205:

     Thee I have heard relating what was done / Ere my remembrance; now hear me relate / My ?tory, which perhaps thou ha?t not heard; […]

6. (obsolete) Something to be remembered; an admonition, counsel, instruction.

Synonyms

• recollection
• reminiscence

Derived terms

• remembrancer, Remembrancer
• Remembrance Day, Remembrance Sunday

Translations

See also

• memory

Old French

Noun

remembrance f (oblique plural remembrances, nominative singular remembrance, nominative plural remembrances)

1. recollection; memory

Descendants

• ? English: remembrance
• French: remembrance

English

Alternative forms

• (archaic) witnesse

Etymology

From Middle English witnesse, from Old English ?ewitnes, equivalent to wit +? -ness. Cognate with Middle Dutch wetenisse (“witness, testimony”), Old High German gewiznessi (“testimony”), Icelandic vitni (“witness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?tn?s/, /?w?tn?s/
• Rhymes: -?tn?s, -?tn?s
• Hyphenation: wit?ness

Noun

witness (countable and uncountable, plural witnesses)

1. (uncountable) Attestation of a fact or event; testimony.

   She can bear witness, since she was there at the time.

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act IV, Scene ii^[1]:

     May we, with the warrant of womanhood and the witness of a good conscience, pursue him with any further revenge?
2. (countable) One who sees or has personal knowledge of something.

   As a witness to the event, I can confirm that he really said that.

   • c. 1589-93, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV, Scene ii^[7]:

     […] thyself art witness— I am betrothed.

   • c. 1786, Robert Hall, A Reverie

     Upon my looking round, I was a witness to appearances which filled me with melancholy and regret.

3. (countable, law) Someone called to give evidence in a court.
4. (countable) One who is called upon to witness an event or action, such as a wedding or the signing of a document.

5. (countable) Something that serves as evidence; a sign or token.

   • Laban said to Jacob, […] This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

witness (third-person singular simple present witnesses, present participle witnessing, simple past and past participle witnessed)

1. (transitive) 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
2. (transitive) To take as evidence.
3. (transitive) To see or gain knowledge of through experience.

   He witnessed the accident.

   • 1801, Robert Hall, On Modern Infidelity

     This is but a faint sketch of the incalculable calamities and horrors we must expect, should we be so unfortunate as ever to witness the triumph of modern infidelity

   • 1803 (first published), John Marshall, The Life of George Washington

     General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.

4. (intransitive, construed with to or for) 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.

5. 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

Translations

Anagrams

• wisents