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martor

witness /marˈtor/

noun#785 most common

Also: eyewitness, witness at a civil wedding (like a best man/maid of honor who signs the register)

Example sentences

Ion este martor.
Ion is a witness.
Am fost martor la un accident de mașină.
I was a witness to a car accident.
Martorul a spus poliției tot ce a văzut.
The witness told the police everything he saw.
Avocatul apărării a cerut ca martorul să fie audiat din nou.
The defense lawyer asked for the witness to be questioned again.
Fără declarația martorilor oculari, procurorul nu ar fi putut reconstitui exact succesiunea evenimentelor.
Without the eyewitnesses' statement, the prosecutor could not have reconstructed the exact sequence of events.
Dacă martorii nu ar fi acceptat să depună mărturie sub jurământ, cazul s-ar fi prescris cu mult înainte ca instanța să ajungă la o hotărâre definitivă.
If the witnesses had not agreed to testify under oath, the case would have become time-barred long before the court reached a final ruling.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativemartormartori
Genitivemartoruluimartorilor
Accusativemartormartori
Vocativemartoremartorilor

Word family

mărturietestimony, statement
mărturisito confess, to testifymărturisireconfession, admission
martorăfemale witness

Etymology

Romanian dictionaries trace martor to a Slavic borrowing, itself rooted in Greek mártys, the same word that gives English martyr. The core sense in Greek was simply someone who bears witness, whether in court or, in a religious context, through death for one's faith. Romanian kept the secular legal sense as the main meaning, while a separate word, mucenic, took over the religious martyr sense.

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