ATTEST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does attest mean? 

• ATTEST (verb)
  The verb ATTEST has 4 senses:

1. provide evidence for; stand as proof of; show by one's behavior, attitude, or external attributes

2. authenticate, affirm to be true, genuine, or correct, as in an official capacity

3. give testimony in a court of law

4. establish or verify the usage of

  Familiarity information: ATTEST used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATTEST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they attest    ... he / she / it attests   
Past simple: attested   
Past participle: attested   
-ing form: attesting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide evidence for; stand as proof of; show by one's behavior, attitude, or external attributes

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

attest; certify; demonstrate; evidence; manifest

Context example:

This decision demonstrates his sense of fairness

Hypernyms (to "attest" is one way to...):

bear witness; evidence; prove; show; testify (provide evidence for)

Verb group:

attest (establish or verify the usage of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "attest"):

authenticate (establish the authenticity of something)

reflect (give evidence of the quality of)

reflect (give evidence of a certain behavior)

notarise; notarize (authenticate as a notary)

condemn (demonstrate the guilt of (someone))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They attest that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

attestation (the evidence by which something is attested)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Authenticate, affirm to be true, genuine, or correct, as in an official capacity

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

I attest this signature

Hypernyms (to "attest" is one way to...):

affirm; assert; aver; avow; swan; swear; verify (to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true)

Verb group:

attest (establish or verify the usage of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

attestant (someone who affirms or vouches for the correctness or truth or genuineness of something)

attestation (the evidence by which something is attested)

attester (someone who affirms or vouches for the correctness or truth or genuineness of something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Give testimony in a court of law

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

attest; bear witness; take the stand; testify

Hypernyms (to "attest" is one way to...):

declare (state emphatically and authoritatively)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "attest"):

vouch (give personal assurance; guarantee)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They attest that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

attestant ((law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature)

attestation (the action of bearing witness)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Establish or verify the usage of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

This word is not attested until 1993

Hypernyms (to "attest" is one way to...):

show (give evidence of, as of records)

Verb group:

attest (authenticate, affirm to be true, genuine, or correct, as in an official capacity)

attest; certify; demonstrate; evidence; manifest (provide evidence for; stand as proof of; show by one's behavior, attitude, or external attributes)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

attestation (the evidence by which something is attested)

 Context examples 

Singletree, Darnley & Co. attested that miracle.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When I had dressed and opened the door, I heard the waves still lapping on the beach, garrulously attesting the fury of the night.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The signatures to this instrument purporting to be executed by Mr. W. and attested by Wilkins Micawber, are forgeries by—HEEP.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A tear seemed to dim her eye when she saw us, but she quickly recovered herself, and a look of sorrowful affection seemed to attest her utter guiltlessness.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

In this terrible agitation of mind, I could not forbear thinking of Lilliput, whose inhabitants looked upon me as the greatest prodigy that ever appeared in the world; where I was able to draw an imperial fleet in my hand, and perform those other actions, which will be recorded for ever in the chronicles of that empire, while posterity shall hardly believe them, although attested by millions.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The Sunday evening was spent in repeating, by heart, the Church Catechism, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of St. Matthew; and in listening to a long sermon, read by Miss Miller, whose irrepressible yawns attested her weariness.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The sailors must have learned whatever project was on hand, and the vim and snap they put into their work attested their enthusiasm.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Mrs. Micawber will attest it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Gathering my mantle about me, and sheltering my hands in my muff, I did not feel the cold, though it froze keenly; as was attested by a sheet of ice covering the causeway, where a little brooklet, now congealed, had overflowed after a rapid thaw some days since.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The garment itself did not bear out the assertion, nor did the accumulations of grease on stove and pot and pan attest a general cleanliness.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)