spy vs witness

spy and witness both are nouns.

spy and witness both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
spy	Yes	No	Yes	No
witness	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, witness is a hypernym of spy; that is, witness is a word with a broader meaning than spy:

spy: a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people
witness: a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)

Other hypernyms of spy include looker, spectator, viewer, watcher.

spy (noun)	witness (noun)
(military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors	testimony by word or deed to your religious faith
a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people	someone who sees an event and reports what happened
	a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
	(law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature
	(law) a person who testifies under oath in a court of law

spy (verb)	witness (verb)
secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage	be a witness to
watch, observe, or inquire secretly	perceive or be contemporaneous with
catch sight of
catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes

Difference between spy and witness

© WordCmp.com 2024, CC-BY 4.0 / CC-BY-SA 3.0.