evidence

English Online Dictionary. What means evidence‎? What does evidence mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English evidence, from Old French [Term?], from Latin evidentia (“clearness, in Late Latin a proof”), from evidens (“clear, evident”); see evident.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛv.ɪ.dəns/, /ˈɛv.ə.dəns/
• (US) IPA^(key): [ˈɛv.ɪ.ɾɪns], [ˈɛv.ə.ɾɪns]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈev.ɪ.dəns/
• Hyphenation: ev‧i‧dence

Noun

evidence (usually uncountable, plural evidences)

1. Facts or observations presented in support of an assertion.
2. (law) Anything admitted by a court to prove or disprove alleged matters of fact in a trial.
3. One who bears witness.
4. A body of objectively verifiable facts that are positively indicative of, and/or exclusively concordant with, that one conclusion over any other.

Usage notes

• As a noun, the word evidence is usually treated as uncountable. Thus, enumeration would generally follow a formulation such as, "Five pieces of evidence were submitted. That evidence was highly convincing." It would rarely be expressed as, "Five evidences were submitted. Those evidences were highly convincing."

Derived terms

Related terms

• evident
• evidential
• evidentiary

Collocations

Translations

Verb

evidence (third-person singular simple present evidences, present participle evidencing, simple past and past participle evidenced)

1. (transitive) To provide evidence for, or suggest the truth of.

Usage notes

To be distinguished from evince.

Derived terms

Translations

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:evidence.

Further reading

• “evidence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “evidence”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Albanian

Noun

evidence

1. indefinite dative/ablative singular of evidencë

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛvɪdɛnt͡sɛ]
• Rhymes: -ɛntsɛ

Noun

evidence f

1. records
2. registry, repository

Declension

Related terms

• See vize

See also

• záznamy
• databáze
• registr

Further reading

• “evidence”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “evidence”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “evidence”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Friulian

Noun

evidence f (plural evidencis)

1. evidence

Middle French

Noun

evidence f (plural evidences)

1. evidence

Descendants

• French: évidence