How to say "witness" in Japanese

• 証人しょうにんJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounA witness in the legal sense: a person who testifies in court or formally attests to facts, a signature, or an agreement; this is the word for courtroom witnesses.
  彼かれらはその証人しょうにんを買収ばいしゅうしようとしたがだめだった。↗

  They attempted in vain to bribe the witness.
• 立会人たちあいにんCommon
  nounA witness in the sense of a person present to observe a procedure, as at a drawing of lots or the opening of bids, rather than one who testifies in court.
• 立会いたちあいCommon
  nounChiefly the presence or act of observing an event, with the person senses 'observer' and 'witness' secondary; when you need a person, 立会人 is usually the clearer choice.

Use 証人 for a witness who testifies or formally attests, 立会人 for a person present to observe a procedure, and 「立会い」 for the presence or act of observing rather than the observer.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 証人しょうにんwitness
• 立会人たちあいにんwitness
• 立会いたちあいpresence (e.g. of an observer)
• 証言者しょうげんしゃwitness (giving testimony)
• 証し人あかしびとwitness
• 目撃者もくげきしゃeye-witness
• 目にするめにするto see
• 見聞くみきくto see and hear
• 引き合いひきあいbeing summoned to appear to court
• 証左しょうさwitness