hearsay

English

WOTD – 16 January 2016

Etymology

From the phrase by hear say, a translation of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French par ouïr dire (1525–1535).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hear‧say

Noun

hearsay (usually uncountable, plural hearsays)

1. Information that was heard by one person about another that cannot be adequately substantiated.
2. (law) Evidence based on the reports of others, which is normally inadmissible because it was not made under oath, rather than on personal knowledge.
3. (law) An out-of-court statement offered in court for the truth of the matter asserted, which is normally inadmissible because it is not subject to cross-examination unless the hearsay statement falls under one of a number of exceptions.

Derived terms

• double hearsay

Synonyms

• common talk
• gossip
• report
• rumor

Translations

information that was heard by one person about another

• Bulgarian: слух (bg) m (sluh), мълва (bg) f (mǎlva)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 傳聞／传闻 (zh) (chuánwén), 传闻 (zh) (chuánwén), 風聞／风闻 (zh) (fēngwén), 风闻 (zh) (fēngwén)

• Czech: klep
• Dutch: van horen zeggen, gerucht (nl)
• Finnish: juoru (fi), kuulopuhe (fi)
• French: ouï-dire (fr) m, on-dit (fr) m, rumeur (fr) f
• German: Hörensagen (de) n, Gerücht (de) n
• Hungarian: hallomás, mendemonda (hu)
• Irish: scéal scéil m
• Italian: sentito dire, diceria (it) f, pettegolezzo (it) m
• Japanese: 伝聞 (でんぶん, denbun), うわさ (ja) (uwasa)
• Latin: audītiō, rūmor m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: tūtara
• Navajo: jiní jiní
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rykte (no) n

• Persian: شنیده (fa) (šenide)
• Polish: pogłoska (pl) f, plotka (pl) f
• Portuguese: diz que diz m, diz que diz que m, boato (pt) m
• Russian: информа́ция из вторы́х рук f (informácija iz vtorýx ruk), молва́ (ru) f (molvá), слух (ru) m (slux), то́лки (ru) m pl (tólki)
• Scottish Gaelic: fathann m
• Spanish: rumores (es) m pl, habladurías (es) f pl
• Swedish: hörsägen (sv) c
• Tagalog: sabi-sabi

(law) evidence based on the reports of others rather than on personal knowledge

• Dutch: testimonium de auditu n
• Finnish: kuulopuhe (fi)
• French: ouï-dire (fr) m, on-dit (fr) m
• Georgian: ჩვენება სხვისი ნათქვამიდან (čveneba sxvisi natkvamidan), ჩვენება, დაფუძნებული გაგონილზე (čveneba, dapuʒnebuli gagonilze), სხვის სიტყვებზე დამყარებული ჩვენება (sxvis siṭq̇vebze damq̇arebuli čveneba), ჩვენება სხვისი სიტყვების მიხედვით (čveneba sxvisi siṭq̇vebis mixedvit)
• German: Hörensagen (de) n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: scéal scéil m
• Italian: sentita persona
• Polish: pogłoska (pl)
• Russian: показа́ния с чужи́х слов n pl (pokazánija s čužíx slov)
• Spanish: pruebas de oídas f, testimonio de oídas m

(law) an out-of-court statement offered in court for the truth of the matter asserted

• Dutch: de-audituverklaring f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• as they say
• hear
• so they say
• you know what they say

Further reading

• “hearsay”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “hearsay”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.