unwitness

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ witness.

Verb

unwitness (third-person singular simple present unwitnesses, present participle unwitnessing, simple past and past participle unwitnessed)

1. (intransitive) To undo the effects of witnessing something; to unsee.
   • 2016 November 8, Benito del Pliego, “Translation Tuesday: Five Poems by Benito del Pliego”, in Sam Carter, transl., edited by Katharine Viner, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-04-11:

     The path you witness today you unwitness tomorrow. And despite all this, your toe will be the milestone opposing your heels.

   • [2020 November 27, Logan Perley, “Rediscovering The Brothers islands”, in CBC News‎^[2], archived from the original on 2023-01-27:

     "There's a phenomenon in colonial studies and it's called unwitnessing," [Rachel] Bryant said. "If material or something that you encounter, it doesn't fit within your understanding, or within a collective understanding of history or of place, then that material can't lodge permanently in a collective consciousness."]

Related terms

• unwitnessed

Further reading

• “unwitness, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.