witness-v; 4 Senses

Sense Number 1: experience sight of an event

Commentary: Syntax is: NP1[experiencer] WITNESS NP2[theme] NP1[agent] WITNESS NP2[theme]

Examples:
And what happened is 1919 I witnessed the steel strike.
She witnessed the destruction of civilian targets almost daily.
He also witnessed for Gelmirez a document on October 9, 1138.
For witnessing or solemnising a marriage (payable by one of the parties) the fee is forty dollars.

Mappings:
VerbNet: captain-29.8-1,sight-30.2
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: witness.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1

Sense Number 2: be contemporaneous with

Commentary:
NOTE: usually, but not always takes an inanimate subject Syntax is: NP1[theme] WITNESS NP2[theme]

Examples:
This era witnessed the age of invertebrates, of fish, of tetrapods, and reptiles.
The Baroque period witnessed the creation of a number of musical genres.
It was here that thousands of doomed species witnessed the collision of the world's continents.

Mappings:
VerbNet: sight-30.2
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: witness.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 2

Sense Number 3: testify to religious beliefs

Examples:
He started witnessing to anyone and everyone.
I went years as a Christian without ever witnessing to anyone.
Faye gave us pamphlets with simple directions for witnessing to our families.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NP
PropBank: NM

Sense Number 4: testify in court as a service to the prosecution or defense.

Examples:
She witnessed for the defense.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM