testimony \TES-teh-mo-nee\ (noun) - 1 : The account of a witness, especially in a court procedure; 2 : evidence in general; 3 : a public declaration of a religious experience.
"The tall, toppling chimney bore mute testimony of the mansion that once stood on the spot."
This word comes to us from Old French testimonie (current French temoin "witness") from Latin "testimonium," made up of testis "witness" and, possibly, a noun from monere "to remind." "Testis," believe it or not, comes from the same root as Latin tri "three," also the origin of our "three." It was originally a compound noun rather like *tri-sta-i- meaning, roughly, "third person standing by," with the *sta- root found in English "stand" and "stead." How the meaning of the Latin word wandered off to its current sense in English is one of the great unsolved mysteries of etymology. The plural of today's word is "testimonies" and the verb underlying it is "testify." However, the person who testifies is a witness rather than a testifier.
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