TMG-L Archives

From: Robin Lamacraft <>
Subject: TMG-L: The word "Witness" (was New user question re tombstones)
Date: Thu, 02 Sep 1999 20:43:23 +0930

At 17:29 1/09/99 -0700, Karen E. Willard wrote:
>Getting over and past the stumbling block of thinking of the witness
>option on the tags as requiring literally that the persons be a witness
>in the plain english meaning of the term will represent a giant leap
>forward in your ability to use TMG. -- we've all gone through it! <grin>
>

Below are the extracts for "witness" as a noun from the Merriam-Webster
disctionary on the WWW at http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

Main Entry: witness
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English witnesse, from Old English witnes knowledge,
testimony, witness, from 2wit
Date: before 12th century
1 : attestation of a fact or event : TESTIMONY
2 : one that gives evidence; specifically : one who testifies in a cause or
before a judicial tribunal
3 : one asked to be present at a transaction so as to be able to testify to its
having taken place
4 : one who has personal knowledge of something
5 a : something serving as evidence or proof : SIGN b : public affirmation by
word or example of usually religious faith or conviction <the heroic witness to
divine life -- Pilot>
6 capitalized : a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses

However in Oxford English there are additional meanings. It is crossing the
Atlantic that seems to be causing some pain. Let me amplify this with an
extract from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1978, 3rd edition) for
witness as a noun.

witness (noun)
1. Knowledge, understanding, wisdom -1482
2. Attestation of a fact, event or statement; testimony, evidence
3. Testimony by signature, oath, etc;
4. One who gives evidence in relation to matters of fact under inquiry; spec.
one who gives or who is legally qualified to give evidence upon oath or
affirmation in a court of justice or judicial inquiry
5. One who is called on, selected, or appointed to be present at a
transaction, so as to be able to testify to its having taken place; spec. one
who is present at an execution of a document and subscribes it in attestation
thereof.
b. A sponsor or god-parent at a baptismn.
6. One who is or was present and is able to testify from personal observation;
one present as a spectator or auditor.
b. In assertive formulae, in which a deity or a person is invoked as one who
is cognizant of a fact; to call upon or appeal to as one's surety.
7. fig. Something that furnishes evidence or proof of the thing or fact
mentioned; an evidential mark or sign, a token
b. Introducing a name, designation, phrrase, or clause denoting a person or
thing that furnishes evidence of the fact or exemplifies the statement;
c. spec. in textual criticism, a manuscript or early version which is
regarded as evidence of authority for the text.
8. One who testifies for Christ or the Christian faith, esp. by death; a
martyr.

Now note the differences - especially the Oxford meaning 7 - this is the best
way to think about the tombstone. In strict sense, it is the author of the
inscription who is acting as the witness (providing testimony to the facts and
relationships therein) but we don't often know the name of the person in that
role.

I hope that after this explanation all will see that "witness" is the most
correct word that Bob Velke could of used without introducing some other jargon
like "associated with" or "linked to". All of this still does not resolve that
problem of separating witnesses into (at minimum) those buried with and those
related to some principal person in the grave.

Robin Ross Lamacraft
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• TMG-L: The word "Witness" (was New user question re tombstones) by Robin Lamacraft <>