evidence
English
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin evidentia (“clearness, in Late Latin a proof”), from evidens (“clear, evident”); see evident.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛvɪdəns/, /ˈɛvədəns/
- (US) IPA(key): [ˈɛvəɾəns]
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
evidence (usually uncountable, plural evidences)
- Facts or observations presented in support of an assertion.
- David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748
- In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.
- 2012 March 1, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 106:
- Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.
- There is no evidence that anyone was here earlier.
- We have enough cold hard evidence in that presentation which will make a world of pain for our parasitic friends at Antarctica.
- David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748
- (law) Anything admitted by a court to prove or disprove alleged matters of fact in a trial.
- 2004 April 15, “Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer”, in The Scotsman:
- For Lothian and Borders Police, the early-morning raid had come at the end one of biggest investigations carried out by the force, which had originally presented a dossier of evidence on the murder of Jodi Jones to the Edinburgh procurator-fiscal, William Gallagher, on 25 November last year.
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- One who bears witness.
- Sir Walter Scott
- infamous and perjured evidences
- 1820, Charles Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer, volume 1, page 53:
- He recapitulated the Sybil’s story word by word, with the air of a man who is cross-examining an evidence, and trying to make him contradict himself.
- Sir Walter Scott
- A body of objectively verifiable facts that are positively indicative of, and/or exclusively concordant with, that one conclusion over any other.
Usage notes
- Adjectives often used with the term "evidence": documentary, physical, empirical, scientific, material, circumstantial, anectodal, objective, strong, weak, conclusive, hard
Derived terms
Terms derived from "evidence"
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
facts or observations presented in support of an assertion
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anything admitted by a court as proof
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
evidence (third-person singular simple present evidences, present participle evidencing, simple past and past participle evidenced)
- (transitive) To provide evidence for, or suggest the truth of.
- She was furious, as evidenced by her slamming the door.
Translations
to provide evidence
Quotations
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:evidence.
Further reading
- evidence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- evidence in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈɛvɪdɛnt͡sɛ]
- Rhymes: -ɛntsɛ
Related terms
- See vize
- evidenční
- evidovat
See also
- záznamy
- databáze
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