Jehovah's Witness
12
7.3
- noun
- /dʒɪˈhoʊvərz ˈwɪtnəs/
:
testigo de Jehová
- During the meeting, a Jehovah's Witness shared their views on the end times and the importance of faith.
Examples
-
I had great chats with our neighbors, who were Jehovah's Witnesses, and presented that to the class.
Blog text (1) -
1914 stands as a very important and critical date for the WTS and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Blog text (12) -
Are you a Jehovah's Witness?
-
"We're from the local Jehovah's Witness church; can we speak to you?
Blog text (6) -
I once visited a Jehovah's Witness church as part of a school project.
Blog text (26) -
A few years ago, my wife and I left the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Academic text (2010) -
Mrs. Foote is, of all things, a Jehovah's Witness.
Fiction book (1991) -
The American experiment had blemishes, such as the persecution of the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Academic text (1993) -
The Jehovah's Witness knocked on the door to share their beliefs with us.
-
My neighbor is a devoted Jehovah's Witness who regularly participates in community outreach.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Jehovah's + witness
If a learner knows 'Jehovah' as the divine name and 'witness' as someone who testifies, they can plausibly infer that a 'Jehovah's Witness' is a person who bears witness for Jehovah — i.e., a member of a religious group. However, the term is a fixed proper name for a specific denomination with particular beliefs and practices (end-times emphasis, active evangelism) that are not fully derivable from the parts, so full meaning requires cultural knowledge.
Etymology
The name Jehovah's Witness comes from the group's choice of the name Jehovah for 'God' and from the word witness, meaning someone who tells others what they know. They used this image because members see themselves as people who go out to tell others about their faith, so today a Jehovah's Witness is a member of that religious group known for sharing their beliefs and for saying the end of the world is near.