witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

is someone who has first-hand knowledge of something, especially a crime or dramatic event, and usually by seeing it. Witness may also refer to:

Films

* ''The Witness'' (1969 French film), a drama film * ''The Witness'' (1969 Hungarian film), a satirical film, also known as ''A tanú'' * ''Witness'' (1985 film), a film directed by Peter Weir, starring Harrison Ford * ''Witness'' (1988 film), a Malayalam film * ''The Witness'' (1992 film), a short film starring Elijah Wood and Gary Sinise * ''Witness'' (1995 film), a 1995 Indian film * ''The Witness'' (2000 film), a film by James LaVeck and Jenny Stein * ''Witnesses'' (2003 film), a Croatian film * ''

The Witnesses ''The Witnesses'' (french: Les Témoins) is a 2007 French drama film directed by André Téchiné, starring Michel Blanc, Sami Bouajila, Emmanuelle Béart and Johan Libéreau. The film, set in Paris in 1984, explores the lives of a closely knit g ...

'', a 2007 French film by André Téchiné * ''The Witness'' (2012 film), a Philippine film * ''The Witness'' (2015 Chinese film), a crime drama film * ''The Witness'' (2015 American film), a documentary about the murder of Kitty Genovese * ''The Witness'' (2018 film), a South Korean thriller * ''Witnesses'' (2018 film), a historical drama by Konstantin Fam

Games

* ''The Witness'' (1983 video game), an interactive fiction computer game * ''The Witness'' (2016 video game), an exploration-puzzle game

Literature

* ''Witness'' (autobiography), an autobiography by Whittaker Chambers * ''Witness'' (novel), a 2001 verse novel of historical fiction by Karen Hesse *'' Witness: Passing the Torch of Holocaust Memory to New Generations'', a 2015 book Holocaust survivors * Witness (character), several characters by Marvel Comics

Music

Groups

Witness (American band) Witness was an Atlanta rock band that was signed to Arista Records in 1986 under the name Native and after changing their name, put out their self-titled debut album in 1988. The band consisted of lead singer Debbie Davis, guitarist Damon Johnson ...

, an Atlanta rock band * Witness (French band), a French rock band *

Witness (gospel group) Witness was a contemporary gospel group from Detroit, Michigan. Often called the female version of Commissioned, an all-male contemporary gospel group, they were the brainchild of and chiefly produced by Michael A. Brooks, an original member and ...

, a female gospel quartet *

Witness (UK band) Witness were a British alternative rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1997. The band released two albums via Island Records between 1999 and 2001, before splitting up in 2004. History Formation Singer-songwriter Gerard Starkie ...

, an English alternative rock band *

A Witness A Witness are an English post-punk/indie rock band, who were originally active in the mid-1980s alternative music scene. Their first EP ''Loudhailer Songs'' and début album ''I am John's Pancreas'' brought them to the attention of BBC Radio 1 d ...

, an English post-punk band

Albums

* ''Witness'' (Benjamin Booker album), 2017 * ''Witness'' (Blessthefall album), 2009 * ''Witness'' (Dave Douglas album), 2001 * ''Witness'' (

Halo James Halo James were a British pop group active from 1988 to 1991. They are best known for their hit single, "Could Have Told You So", which reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart in 1990. Career Formation Halo James formed in London. Named aft ...

album), 1990 * ''Witness'' (Katy Perry album), 2017 * ''Witness'' (Modern Life Is War album), 2005 * ''Witness'' (Show of Hands album), 2006 * ''Witness'' (Spooky Tooth album), 1973 * ''Witness'' (Vola album), 2021 * ''The Witness ''(Suuns album), 2021

Songs

* " The Witness", a song by members of the American rock band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

* "Witness", a song by Tori Amos from ''

The Beekeeper ''The Beekeeper'' is the eighth studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It deals with the topics of death, adultery and romantic conflict, and makes brief reference to ancient Gnostic mysticism from the ''Apocryphon of John''. Sonically, ...

'' * "Witness", a song by Joan as Police Woman from '' The Classic'' * "Witness", a song by Sarah McLachlan from '' Surfacing'' * "Witness", a song by Bo Bice from '' See the Light'' * "Witness", a song by Red Fang from ''

Red Fang Red Fang is an American rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2005. It is composed of guitarist and vocalist Bryan Giles, bassist and vocalist Aaron Beam, guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman. The band has released five studi ...

* "Witness", a song by

Jordan Feliz Jordan Alexander Feliz (born March 15, 1989) is an American Christian musician, who plays a folk rock and soul music, soul style of contemporary Christian music, Christian pop. He has released four studio albums that have charted, along with sev ...

Periodicals

* ''Witness'' (magazine), a magazine published by the Black Mountain Institute * Witness (religious newspaper) edited by Hugh Miller in the mid nineteenth century * ''The Witness'' (newspaper), a South African daily newspaper published in Pietermaritzburg

Plays

* ''Witness'' (play), a 1968 play by Terrence McNally * '' Witness: Five Plays from the Gospel of Luke'', a series of BBC Radio plays

Television

Series

* ''Witness'' (2006 TV programme), a documentary programme that airs on Al Jazeera English * ''Witness'' (TV series), a Canadian documentary television series (1992–2004) * ''The Witness'' (TV series), a 1960-61 television show broadcast on the CBS network * ''Witnesses'' (TV series), a 2014 French television series (''Les Témoins'')

Episodes

* "Witness" (''Better Call Saul''), a 2017 episode of the American crime drama television series ''Better Call Saul'' * "Witness" (''Person of Interest''), a 2011 episode of the American drama television series ''Person of Interest'' * "Witness" (''The Secret Circle''), a 2012 episode of the American television series ''The Secret Circle'' * "The Witness" (''Queen of Swords''), a 2000 episode of the TV series ''Queen of Swords''

Religion

Witnessing In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...

or evangelism, a name for proselytising in Christianity **

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

, a restorationist Christian denomination whose name references the above

Other uses

Witness (mathematics) In mathematical logic, a witness is a specific value ''t'' to be substituted for variable ''x'' of an existential statement of the form ∃''x'' ''φ''(''x'') such that ''φ''(''t'') is true. Examples For example, a theory ''T'' of arithmetic i ...

, a value τ for variable x with the property that φ(τ) is true, rendering the existential statement ∃x φ(x) true as well; τ is then said to be a ''witness'' for the statement ∃x φ(x) * Witness, a number that plays a role in a

primality test A primality test is an algorithm for determining whether an input number is prime. Among other fields of mathematics, it is used for cryptography. Unlike integer factorization, primality tests do not generally give prime factors, only stating whet ...

*''Witness'', a cast-iron sculpture by

Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...

Witness (altar) Witness is the name of an altar referred to in . Its name appears as "Witness" in the New King James Version, the English Standard Version and the New Living Translation. The Geneva Bible and the King James Version transliterate the original Hebrew ...

, a monument in the Book of Joshua *

Witness (organization) WITNESS is a human rights non-profit organization based out of Brooklyn, New York. Its mission is to partner with on-the-ground organizations to support the documentation of human rights violations and their consequences, in order to further public ...

, a non-profit organization started by Peter Gabriel * Witnesses, different documents of a single, original text in

textual criticism Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in ...