hearsay
- 01 C2 Proficiency
evidence in a court of law that is based on what someone else said, rather than what a witness saw directly.
an out-of-court statement offered in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted, generally inadmissible unless an exception applies.
Simple“The judge told the jury to ignore the witness's comment because it was hearsay.”
In context“The defence attorney raised a timely objection, claiming the testimony constituted inadmissible hearsay since the original declarant was unavailable for cross-examination.”
UsageOften used as a modifier in the phrase 'hearsay evidence' or as a standalone noun in legal objections.
Teacher's tipIn legal English, this is a precise technical term; in general English, it is a more flexible synonym for rumour.
Synonymssecond hand evidenceAntonymsdirect evidenceeyewitness testimony
From Middle English hyere-zigginge (1340), here sey (ca. 1438), from the phrase heren seien (“to hear [people] say”). Compare equally old Middle High German hœrsagen (14th c.), whence modern Hörensagen.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.