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.
1665. Boyle, Occas. Refl., V. iv. (1675), 310. Certain Truths, that have in them so much of native Light or Evidence … it cannot be hidden.
1665. Bunyan, 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.
1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., I. ii. 63. They [our faculties] expand and evolve themselves into more distinction and evidence of themselves.
1721–1800. in Bailey.
1882. Mivart, 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.
1873. Browning, 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.].
1887. Blackw. Mag., CXLI. 64/1. The sister whose presence she had relied upon was not in evidence!
1888. Ch. Times, 28 Dec., 1153/3. The Broad Church school was more in evidence than at any previous Congress.
† 2. Manifestation; display. Obs.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Macc. iii. 24. The spirit of almiȝti God made grete euydence [Vulg. evidentiam] of his shewyng.
c. 1430. Lydg., in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866), 45. Doblettes of glass yeue a gret euidence, Thyng countirfet wyl faile at assay.
1611. Bible, 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.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4518 (Gött.). If ani man þer ware Coude telle to quat euidens it [Pharaoh’s vision] bare.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., Prol. 1. I have perceived well by certeyne evidences theire ability to lerne sciences.
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 81. This horse … was to Troie an evidence Of love and pees for evermo.
1398. Trevisa, 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.
1530. Palsgr., 217/2. Evydence, declaryng of a thynge.
1601. Cornwallyes, Ess., II. xxxi. The creatures that giue us earthly immortalitie [1632 mortalitie], whose chosen evidence is beauty.
1644. Cromwell, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., I. 362, III. 300. It had all the evidences of an absolute Victorie.
1681–6. J. Scott, Chr. Life (1747), III. 263. A plain Evidence that this God and that Angel of Jehovah were the same Person.
1727. De Foe, Syst. Magic, I. ii. (1840), 50. I give you this as an evidence of the difference in the kinds of magic.
1846. Prescott, Ferd. & Is., II. II. i. 243. She every where afforded the evidence of faculties developed by unceasing intellectual action.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), II. vii. 221. An opportunity was offered them of giving evidence of their loyalty.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xv. 99. A day … was spent in examining the evidences of ancient glacier action.
1867. Lady Herbert, Cradle L., vii. 167–8. The country they were traversing gave evidence of careful cultivation at some former time.
b. In religious language: Signs or tokens of personal salvation.
1758. S. 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.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2295 (Gött.). Þis euydens [Cott. forbisming] biheld þis oþer.
c. 1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 429. Go bifore as a good baneoure, And hardy hem þat bihynde ben and ȝiue hem good euydence.
1393. Gower, 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.)
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. II. 107. Þe dedis þat Crist dide ben unsuspect evydence þat Crist is boþe God and man. Ibid., Sel. Wks., III. 340. Þei shulden haue euydence to seie þat God haþ told þem þis.
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 87. Theology … yiveth evidence Of thing, which is nought bodely.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 286. Thus hafe we evydens to aske þe Emperour … whate ryghte þat he claymes.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. xv. 163. Ðis Kyng [Edwart] þan feyhnyd evydens As to declere hys Consciens … Quhat he in Scotland gert be dwne.
1480. Caxton, Descr. Eng., 18. He maketh non euidence for in neyther side he telleth what moeueth him so for to saye.
1530. Compend. Treat. (1863), 49. But it ought to be … as we shall proue by open euidence thorough goddes helpe.
1594. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., I. iv. (1611), 10. Adoration, grounded vpon the euidence of the greatnesse of God.
1611. Bible, Heb. xi. 1. Now faith is … the euidence [1887 Revised assurance] of things not seen.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., III. i. § 7. Those who deny that there is a God, do assert other things on far less evidence of reason.
1736. Butler, Anal., II. iii. Wks. 1874, I. 179. Its evidence not being so convincing and satisfactory, as it might have been.
1769. Junius Lett., v. 25. The plain evidence of facts is superior to all declarations.
1794. Paley, Evid. (1825), II. 285. There is no evidence that any forgeries were attempted.
1809. Med. Jrnl., XXI. 359. The truth … of which I can yet attest by living evidence.
1816. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 457. The evidence of sight is corrected by the judgment.
1846. Mill, Logic, III. xxi. § 1. Evidence is not that which the mind does or must yield to, but that which it ought to yield to.
1878. Huxley, 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.
1463. Bury 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.
1478. Paston Lett., No. 821, III. 234. Donne … ffounde that the Duke off Suffolk was verrye patrone, whyche was ffalse, yitt they ded it for an euydence.
1665. Glanvill, Sceps. Sci., Addr. 3. I took the boldness to borrow that deservedly celebrated name, for an evidence to my Subject.
1693. Locke, Educ., § 205, Wks. 1714, III. 94 (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, of the Christian Religion, or simply The Evidences.
[1699. Bp. S. Bradford (title), The Credibility of the Christian Religion, from its intrinsic Evidence.]
1729. Entick (title), The Evidence of Christianity, Asserted [etc.].
1730. (title of posthumous work by Addison) The Evidences of the Christian Religion.
1794. Paley (title), Evidences of Christianity.
1859. Mill, Liberty (1866), 63/2. There is no reasonable objection to examining an atheist in the evidences of Christianity.
1864. Bowen, 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. phr. To bear, give in, give evidence. To call in evidence: to call as a witness. For Circumstantial, Parole, Presumptive, Primâ Facie, Verbal, etc., Evidence, see these adjs.
1503–4. Act 19 Hen. VII., c. 4. The seid Justices shall awarde to the same persone so gevyng evydens xs.
1553. Brende, Q. Curtius, 114. Euery one of them geuing in euidence that they had spoken afore.
1594. Daniel, Compl. Rosamond, xcii. The bed that likewise giues in euidence Against my soule.
1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., II. i. 130. The concurrent testimonies of many Witnesses … make an evidence more concludent.
1683. Dryden, Ded. Plutarch’s Lives, 20. They … transported their Evidence to another [country], where they knew ’twas vendible.
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 343. To be call’d in Evidence concerning a Curiosity, that employ’d all the Great Men of his time.
a. 1714. Burnet, 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.
1761–2. Hume, Hist. Eng., App. i. I. 158. Want of discernment in judges, who could not discuss an intricate evidence.
1792. Anecd. W. Pitt, I. iv. 58. To find proper evidence for convicting the offender.
1817. W. Selwyn, Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4), II. 987. Primâ facie evidence of a publication by the bookseller.
1859. Dickens, T. Two Cities, II. xii. There was no getting over his evidence.
1863. Royal 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. 1611. Bible, Transl. Pref., 5. So S. Chrysostome, that liued in S. Hieromes time, giueth euidence with him.
a. 1719. Addison, Evid. Chr. Relig. (1730), 23. They bear evidence to a history in defence of Christianity.
1875. Scrivener, Lect. Grk. Test., 10. Their evidence is entirely independent of the later Greek copies.
b. The evidence: the testimony that 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.
1817. W. Selwyn, Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4), II. 959. The policy must be produced in evidence.
1860. Dickens, 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.
1817. W. 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.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1650. His scarlet Lust came euidence to sweare That my poore beautie had purloin’d his eyes. Ibid. (1605), Lear, III. vi. 37. I’ll see their trial first.—Bring in the evidence.
1681. Trial S. Colledge, 72. And did not you come to me and tell me, there was a noise of your being an Evidence.
1731. Gentl. Mag., 218. The Lady Lawley was sentenced to be imprisoned one month for spiriting away an evidence.
1762. Foote, Orators, II. (1767), 50. Look upon this evidence, was he present at Mr. Parson’s knockings.
1823. Scott, 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.
1691. Southerne, 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.
1722. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 79. He is impeached by one of the gang, to save his own life, has turned evidence.
1865. H. Kingsley, Hillyars & Burtons, iv. I hate a convict who turns Queen’s evidence.
1886. Science (N.Y.), VIII. 602–3. Mr. Bartlett Channing Paine comes into court, and, as state’s evidence, gives the following testimony.
transf. 1889. Daily 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.
a. 1444. Paston Lett., No. 38, I. 51. The evidences … receyved of yow at your last beyng at Norwich. Ibid. (1465), 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.
1465. Mann. & Househ. Exp. (1841), 175. The same day Brame toke to Thorneton sertene hevydense of myn, to take to James Hobard.
1501. Plumpton Corr., 151. All your new esvedence by your father to John Norton.
1505. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 327. A boxe wt iiij ewydence wt iij other wretynges.
1535. Coverdale, Jer. xxxii. 14. I charged Baruch … to take this sealed euydence with the copie.
1587. Holinshed, Chron., III. 938. A poore woman … besought him to declare what he had doone with euidences of hirs.
1594. Mirr. Policie (1599), I ij b. All the Farmers … vvere murthered and slaine, their goods spoiled, their euidences burned, their houses raised.
1628. Coke, 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.
a. 1672. Wood, Life (1848), 142. He began to peruse the evidences of Oriel coll. in their treasury.
1706. in Phillips (ed. Kersey).
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), IV. 327. The next clause usually inserted … is, ‘together with all deeds, evidences, and writings, &c.’
1875. J. T. Fowler, Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees), Pref. 5. A book of evidences relating to Obits kept in Ripon Minster.
9. Comb.
1827–8. Bentham, Wks. (1843), X. 584. You might go on to examine evidence of the character of the evidence-giver.
1828. C. Wordsworth, K. Chas. I., 103. A more visionary piece was never sketched by the pencil of a determined evidence-maker.
1832. R. Southey, in Q. Rev., XLVII. 500. Jurymen are not the only persons who, upon occasion, can show themselves evidence-proof.
