人证 (rén zhèng) — witness testimony, testimonial evidence | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Testimony given by witnesses in court (what people say they saw or know). Often paired with its complement 物证 (physical evidence).

noun

witness testimonytestimonial evidence

Examples

人证。
Fǎ guān tīng qǔ le suǒ yǒu rén zhèng.
The judge heard all the witness testimony.
人证。
Zhè ge àn jiàn de rén zhèng fēi cháng guān jiàn.
The witness testimony in this case is very crucial.
人证，。
Méi yǒu rén zhèng, zhè ge àn zi hěn nán pàn.
Without witness testimony, this case is hard to judge.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

证zhèngevidence

The person 人 is the source of the evidence 证, so it means witness testimony.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

言登證

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

登

登dēng證zhèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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