| 释义 |
▪ I. evidence, n.|ˈɛvɪdəns|
Forms: 4–6 evi-, evydens, -nce, (5 hevydense, 6 esvedence, ewydence), 4– evidence.
[ME. evidence, a. F. évidence, ad. L. ēvidentia, f. ēvident-em: see evident. Cf. Pr., Sp. evidencia, It. evidenza.]
I.
1. The quality or condition of being evident; clearness, evidentness.
1665Boyle Occas. Refl. v. iv. (1675) 310 Certain Truths, that have in them so much of native Light or Evidence..it cannot be hidden. 1665Bunyan Holy Citie Pref. Ep. A iij, I should not have been able to speak..so much as five words of truth with life, and evidence. 1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. ii. 63 They [our faculties] expand and evolve themselves into more distinction and evidence of themselves. 1721–1800in Bailey. 1882Mivart Nat. & Th. (1885) 122 So evident that we require no grounds at all for believing them save the ground of their own very evidence.
b. in evidence [after F. en évidence]: actually present; prominent, conspicuous.
18..Blackw. Mag., The sister whose presence she had relied on was not in evidence. 1873Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 479 The faithful of our province raised the sum..And so, the sum in evidence at length, Next step was to obtain [etc.]. 1888Ch. Times 28 Dec. 1153/3 The Broad Church school was more in evidence than at any previous Congress.
†2. Manifestation; display. Obs.
1382Wyclif 2 Macc. iii. 24 The spirit of almiȝti God made grete euydence [Vulg. evidentiam] of his shewyng. c1430Lydg. in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 45 Doblettes of glass yeue a gret euidence, Thyng countirfet wyl faile at assay. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 5 Which hee performed with that euidence of great learning.
II. That which manifests or makes evident.
3. An appearance from which inferences may be drawn; an indication, mark, sign, token, trace. Also † to take evidence: to prognosticate. to bear, give evidence: to afford indications.
a1300Cursor M. 4518 (Gött.) If ani man þer ware Coude telle to quat euidens it [Pharaoh's vision] bare. c1391Chaucer Astrol. Prol. 1, I have perceived well by certeyne evidences theire ability to lerne sciences. 1393Gower Conf. I. 81 This horse..was to Troie an evidence Of love and pees for evermo. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxxix. (1495) 800 Ofte men that shall fyght takyth euydence and diuineth..what shall befalle by sorowe othe by the joye that the horse makith. 1530Palsgr. 217/2 Evydence, declaryng of a thynge. 1601Cornwallyes Ess. ii. xxxi, The creatures that giue us earthly immortalitie [1632 mortalitie], whose chosen evidence is beauty. 1644Cromwell in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 362 III. 300 It had all the evidences of an absolute Victorie. 1681–6Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 263 A plain Evidence that this God and that Angel of Jehovah were the same Person. 1727De Foe Syst. Magic i. ii. (1840) 50, I give you this as an evidence of the difference in the kinds of magic. 1846Prescott Ferd. & Is. II. ii. i. 243 She every where afforded the evidence of faculties developed by unceasing intellectual action. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. vii. 221 An opportunity was offered them of giving evidence of their loyalty. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xv. 99 A day..was spent in examining the evidences of ancient glacier action. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. vii. 167 The country they were traversing gave evidence of careful cultivation.
b. In religious language: Signs or tokens of personal salvation.
1758S. Hayward Serm. xvi. 493 A person just entering upon eternity..with his evidences all dark.
†4. Example, instance (frequent in Gower). Also, to take (an) evidence. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 2295 (Gött.) Þis euydens [Cott. forbisming] biheld þis oþer. c1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 429 Go bifore as a good baneoure, And hardy hem þat bihynde ben and ȝiue hem good euydence. 1393Gower Conf. I. 50 Whereof thou might take evidence To reule with thy conscience. Ibid. III. 270 By this evidence lerne, How it is good, etc.
5. Ground for belief; testimony or facts tending to prove or disprove any conclusion. Const. for, of (the thing to be proved), from, of (the source of testimony). † to have evidence to say, etc.: to have good grounds for saying, etc. (For external, internal, moral, probable evidence, see these adjs.)
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 107 Þe dedis þat Crist dide ben unsuspect evydence þat Crist is boþe God and man. ― Sel. Wks. III. 340 Þei shulden haue euydence to seie þat God haþ told þem þis. 1393Gower Conf. III. 87 Theology..yiveth evidence Of thing, which is nought bodely. a1400Morte Arth. 286 Thus hafe we evydens to aske þe Emperour..whate ryghte þat he claymes. c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. xv. 163 Ðis Kyng [Edwart] þan feyhnyd evydens As to declere hys Consciens..Quhat he in Scotland gert be dwne. 1480Caxton Descr. Eng. 18 He maketh non euidence for in neyther side he telleth what moeueth him so for to saye. 1530Compend. Treat. (1863) 49 But it ought to be..as we shall proue by open euidence thorough goddes helpe. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. iv. (1611) 10 Adoration, grounded vpon the euidence of the greatnesse of God. 1611Bible Heb. xi. 1 Now faith is..the euidence [1887 Revised assurance] of things not seen. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §7 Those who deny that there is a God, do assert other things on far less evidence of reason. 1736Butler Anal. ii. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 179 Its evidence not being so convincing and satisfactory, as it might have been. 1769Junius Lett. v. 27 The plain evidence of facts is superior to all declarations. 1794Paley Evid. (1825) II. 285 There is no evidence that any forgeries were attempted. 1809Med. Jrnl. XXI. 359 The truth..of which I can yet attest by living evidence. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 457 The evidence of sight is corrected by the judgment. 1846Mill Logic iii. xxi. §1 Evidence is not that which the mind does or must yield to, but that which it ought to yield to. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 100 The weight of evidence appears strongly in favour of the claims of Cavendish.
†b. an evidence: something serving as a proof. Obs. Cf. 8.
1463Bury Wills (Camd. Soc.) 19 Thinges wiche I graunte..expressyd as folwith aftyr in writyng that here aftyr it may be knowe for an euydence in the seid tabyll. 1478Paston Lett. No. 821 III. 234 Donne..ffounde that the Duke off Suffolk was verrye patrone, whyche was ffalse, yitt they ded it ffor an euydence. 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. Addr. 3, I took the boldness to borrow that deservedly celebrated Name, for an Evidence to my Subject. a1704Locke (J.), Cato Major..has left us an evidence, under his own hand, how much he was versed in country affairs.
c. Evidence or Evidences of Christianity, Evidence of the Christian Religion, or simply The Evidences.
[1699Bp. S. Bradford (title) The Credibility of the Christian Religion, from its intrinsic Evidence.] 1729Entick (title) The Evidence of Christianity asserted. 1730(title of posthumous work by Addison) The Evidences of the Christian Religion. 1794Paley (title) Evidences of Christianity. 1859Mill Liberty (1866) 63/2 There is no reasonable objection to examining an atheist in the evidences of Christianity. 1864Bowen Logic ix. 295 The other half [of the Fallacy is found] in a treatise on the Evidences.
III. Legal uses of 5.
6. Information, whether in the form of personal testimony, the language of documents, or the production of material objects, that is given in a legal investigation, to establish the fact or point in question. Also, an evidence = a piece of evidence. Phrases to bear evidence, give in evidence, give evidence. to call in evidence: to call as a witness. For circumstantial, parole, presumptive, primâ facie, verbal, etc. evidence, see these adjs.
1503–4Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 4 The seid Justices shall awarde to the same persone so gevyng evydens xs. 1553Brende Q. Curtius 114 Euery one of them geuing in euidence that they had spoken afore. 1594Daniel Compl. Rosamond xcii, The bed that likewise giues in euidence Against my soule. 1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. ii. i. 130 The concurrent testimonies of many Witnesses..make an evideuce more concludent. 1683Dryden Ded. Plutarch's Lives 20 They..transported their evidence to another [country] where they knew 'twas vendible. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 343 To be call'd in Evidence concerning a Curiosity, that employ'd all the Great Men of his time. a1714Burnet Own Time I. iii. 415 The person he had sent to Mitchell gave a full evidence of the promises he had made him: but Sharp denied them all. 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. App. i. I. 158 Want of discernment in judges, who could not discuss an intricate evidence. 1792Anecd. W. Pitt I. iv. 58 To find proper evidence for convicting the offender. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 987 Primâ facie evidence of a publication by the bookseller. 1859Dickens T. Two Cities ii. xii, There was no getting over his evidence. 1863Royal Charter §16 in Lond. Univ. Calendar (1866) 25 Which Register shall be conclusive evidence that any person whose name shall appear thereon..is..entitled to vote.
transf.1611Bible Transl. Pref. 5 So S. Chrysostome, that liued in S. Hieromes time, giueth euidence with him. a1719Addison Evid. Chr. Relig. (1730) 23 They bear evidence to a history in defence of Christianity. 1875Scrivener Lect. Grk. Test. 10 Their evidence is entirely independent of the later Greek copies.
b. the evidence: the testimony which in any particular cause has been received by the court and entered on its records. Similarly, to be or produce in evidence: to be a part, or to produce as a part, of the evidence before the court.
1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 959 The policy must be produced in evidence. 1860Dickens Uncomm. Trav. viii, The same incorrigible medical forefinger pointed out another passage in the evidence. Mod. The document is not in evidence.
c. Statements or proofs admissible as testimony in a court of law.
1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. Index, Fleet books, not evidence. Where declaration of wife, and letters written by her, are evidence. Mod. What a witness states on hearsay is not evidence. My lord, I submit that this document is not evidence.
†7. One who furnishes testimony or proof; a witness. Sometimes collect. = ‘witnesses.’ Obs.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 1650 His scarlet lust came evidence to swear That my poor beauty had purloin'd his eyes. 1605― Lear iii. vi. 37 I'll see their trial first: Bring in the evidence. 1681Trial S. Colledge 72 And did not you come to me and tell me, there was a noise of your being an Evidence. 1731Gentl. Mag. 218 The Lady Lawley was sentenced to be imprisoned one month for spiriting away an evidence. 1762Foote Orators ii. (1767) 50 Look upon this evidence, was he present at Mr. Parson's knockings. 1823Scott Peveril xli, Two infamous and perjured evidences..made oath to the prisoners' having expressed themselves interested in the great confederacy of the Catholics.
†b. transf. A spy. Obs.
1691Southerne Sir A. Love v. i, Get you gone then, like an Evidence, behind the hangings.
c. to turn King's (Queen's, State's) evidence (formerly also † to turn evidence), said of an accomplice or sharer in a crime: to offer himself as a witness for the prosecution against the other persons implicated.
1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 79 One of the gang, to save his own life, has turned evidence. 1865H. Kingsley Hillyars & B. iv, I hate a convict who turns Queen's evidence. 1886Science (N.Y.) VIII. 603 Mr. Bartlett Channing Paine comes into court, and, as state's evidence, gives the following testimony.
transf.1889Daily News 25 Dec. 5/2 The Bishop might have been better employed than in turning King's evidence against the Sermon on the Mount.
†8. A document by means of which a fact is established (see quot. 1628); esp. title-deeds. (In 15–16th c. often in collective sense = ‘documents’; sometimes with a numeral, as if mistaken for an actual plural. Cf. evident.) Obs. exc. Hist. and in legal formulæ.
a1444Paston Lett. No. 38 I. 51 The evidences..receyved of yow at your last beyng at Norwich. 1465Ibid. No. 500 II. 179, I have put your evydens that com owte of the abbay in a seck and enseylyd hem under Ric. Call ys seall. 1465Mann. & Househ. Exp. (1841) 175 The same day Brame toke to Thorneton sertene hevydense of myn, to take to James Hobard. 1501Plumpton Corr. 151 All your new esvedence by your father to John Norton. 1505in Eng. Gilds (1870) 327 A boxe wt iiij ewydence wt iij other wretynges. 1535Coverdale Jer. xxxii. 14, I charged Baruch..to take this sealed euydence with the copie. 1587Holinshed Chron. III. 938 A poore woman..besought him to declare what he had doone with euidences of hirs. 1594Mirr. Policy (1599) I ij, All the farmers..were murthered..their goods spoiled, their euidences burned, their houses raised. 1628Coke On Litt. 283 a, Writings vnder seale, as Charters and Deeds, and other writings without seale, as Court Rolles, Accounts, and the like..are called Euidences. a1672Wood Life (1848) 142 He began to peruse the evidences of Oriel coll. in their treasury. 1706in Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 327 The next clause usually inserted..is, ‘together with all deeds, evidences, and writings’. 1875J. T. Fowler Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) Pref. 5 A book of evidences relating to Obits kept in Ripon Minster.
9. Comb.
1827–8Bentham Wks. (1843) X. 584 You might go on to examine evidence of the character of the evidence-giver. 1828C. Wordsworth K. Chas. I 103 A more visionary piece was never sketched by the pencil of a determined evidence-maker. 1832R. Southey in Q. Rev. XLVII. 500 Jurymen are not the only persons who, upon occasion, can show themselves evidence-proof.
▪ II. evidence, v.|ˈɛvɪdəns|
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. Of things: To serve as evidence for; to attest, prove. Rarely intr. to evidence to.
a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. xii. §2 (1622) 334 The testimonie of neither of them..doth so euidence the matter, as the things themselues doe. 1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 1 Worcestershire..Kent, and many other parts..can sufficiently evidence the profits of Orchards. 1690Penn Rise & Progr. Quakers (1834) 57 His behaviour at Derby..did abundantly evidence it. 1742Young Nt. Th. vii. 520 Fierce passions..presage a nobler flight, And evidence our title to the skies. 1859Halliwell Evid. Chr. 97 Occurrences evidencing the divinity of Christ. 1875Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 12) II. ii. xxviii. 88 The Hillsides..were much shaken, as evidenced by the many bare patches with which they were checquered. 1885Clodd Myths & Dr. i. iv. 68 The survival of grammatical forms common to the Aryan ancestors..evidenced to one parent primitive speech.
2. Of persons: To support by one's testimony, attest (a fact or statement).
a1647W. Bradford Plymouth Plantation (1856) 424 Y⊇ cause and passages..were clearly represented & sufficiently evidenced. 1667E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. (1684) 336 No one Saint in all the Calendar (except those attested by Scripture) is better evidenced. 1721Southerne Disappointm. iii. ii, I invoke Heav'n, earth, and men to evidence my truth. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. iv, The one [story] I am about to tell is so well evidenced that I think even Mr. Vivian Grey will hear it without a sneer. 1864Bowen Logic xiii. 422 This is no reason for doubting their reality, when they are evidenced by Intuition. 1886Burton Arab. Nts. (abridged) 163 If the truth of her story be evidenced I will exact retaliation.
†3. To establish by evidence; to make evident, demonstrate, prove. With simple obj., obj. sentence, or inf. Obs.
1632J. Lee Short Survey Sweden 53 How great forces..this mighty Prince is able to bring into the field, may..by this late..expedition..easily be evidenced. 1648Chas. I in Neal Hist. Purit. III. 506 Until the same shall be evidenced to me to be contrary to the word of God. 1649Selden Laws Eng. i. xvi. (1739) 31 This the words of the Historian do evidence. 1665–6Phil. Trans. I. 244 Cassini pretends to evidence by his observations, that those spots were very large. 1673Temple Ess. Irel. Wks. 1731 I. 118 The Horses must be evidenced by good Testimonies to have been bred in Ireland. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xviii. vii, Put together so many circumstances to evidence an untruth. 1793T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) III. 550 Our laws..to evidence their right to this, permit them, etc. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life i. Introd., As I will evidence in a few instances already quoted.
4. With reference to legal evidence.
†a. To give evidence against (a person). Obs.
1691Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 190 Charles Edwards, who evidenc'd Mr. Arnold in 1683..hath made affidavit..that what he swore against Mr. Arnold was false. 1695Remarks Late Serm. (ed. 2) 6 One T.O..hath..Evidenc'd I know not how many to the Gallows.
†b. To disclose or relate as a witness. Obs.
1656–7Burton's Diary (1828) I. 336 He evidenced two remarkable passages of her life. 1694Crowne Regulus iii. ii, I have nothing to evidence. 1812J. J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 161 The wretch had evidenced all our proceedings minutely.
c. intr. To give evidence, appear as a witness.
1656S. H. Gold. Law 19 His apparent perfections..spake and evidenced for him. 1692Rochester Contriv. S. Blackhead in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 511 One of the most graceless wretches, that ever yet entered upon the stage of evidencing. 1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 185 Her maid..will evidence against her. 1887Scribn. Mag. (Farmer Americanisms), I hadn' 'a' thought ye'd 'a evidenced agin me that-a-way.
5. To give evidence or indication of; to indicate, manifest. Const. with n. or refl. pron. as obj., also with complementary inf. or with obj. sentence.
c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1735) 91 Thereby evidencing she did not stand upon Ceremonies. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. xiii. 225 Were there any such effectuall heat in this starre, yet could it but weakly evidence the same in Summer. 1659Hammond On Ps. xxxiv. 20 Paraphr. 183 Evidenceth it selfe in a signal preservation of such. 1663Charleton Chor. Gigant. 56 The ruines evidence themselves to be the effect. a1729Clarke On the Evidences 331 (R.) The effect..evidenced itself in a..remarkable manner. 1788W. Tudor in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) IV. 230 A desire of evidencing that respect and gratitude which I..feel for you. 1863Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xii. 299 Her native hilarity of heart is evidenced constantly. 1872Browning Fifine xliii, If somehow every face..Evidence..that warm Beneath the veriest ash, there hides a spark of soul. 1876Digby Real Prop. viii. 349 The courts eagerly seized on any expressions evidencing this intention.
Hence ˈevidencing ppl. a. and vbl. n. Also attrib.
1630Sanderson Serm. II. 253 For the farther evidencing of the necessity of which duty. 1654Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 170 By so evidencing a demonstration, it was impossible to separate us. 1682Abs. & Achit. ii. 74 Since our evidencing days began! 1774Goldsm. Hist. Greece I. 337 The most detested..part of the citizens, such as lived by evidencing and informing. |