Bevittnat

Bevittnat is the supine form and past participle of the Swedish verb bevittna, meaning to witness or attest to the truth of something by signing, testifying, or otherwise bearing witness. The word is used both as a verb in compound tenses and as an adjective describing something that has been witnessed or attested.

Grammatically, bevittna is a regular verb in the sense that its present tense is bevittnar, its past tense bevittnade, and its supine or past participle bevittnat. In compound tenses one can say, for example, har bevittnat (has witnessed) or hade bevittnat (had witnessed). As an adjective or attributive form, bevittnat modifies a noun to indicate that its status has been witnessed or attested, as in ett bevittnat dokument (a document that has been witnessed/attested).

Usage is common in legal, administrative, and formal contexts, where actions or documents may need to be witnessed or notarized. It is less frequent in everyday speech, where more general terms such as “vittna” or “intyga” may be used depending on the nuance.

Etymology links the term to the verb bevittna and to the related noun vittne (witness) and vittnesmål (witness testimony). The prefix be- and the root vaga from the concept of attesting or bearing witness connect bevittna to the broader language of testimony and verification.

Examples:

- Dokumentet är bevittnat av en notarie. (The document is witnessed by a notary.)

- Hon har bevittnat hans undertecknande av kontraktet.

- Ett bevittnat vittnesmål ingår i protokollet.