firsthand account
Witness's own story
A firsthand account is a description of events by someone who directly witnessed or experienced them.
The term emphasizes authenticity and immediacy—a firsthand account of the earthquake, survivors gave firsthand accounts of the attack.
Contrasts with secondhand accounts, which relay information through intermediaries.
- eyewitnessOne who saw events
- personal testimonyIndividual's firsthand narrative
- testimonySworn statement as evidence
- witnessOne who attests
- on the groundIn contact with earth
front line · memoir · oral history · personal · narrative · true story · experience · direct · story · recollection · interview · live report · news report · survivor · war story · reporter · journalist · diary
- nonfictionbiography, autobiography, biographies, history, memoir
- evidenceevidence, evidence bag, circumstantial evidence, proof, admissible
- memoirsmemoir, memoirs, autobiography, autobiographies, life story
- articlesarticle, magazine article, features, feature stories, columns
- courtroom testimonysworn testimony, trial testimony, witness stand, eyewitness, expert witness
- oral historyinterview, testimony, storytelling, memoir, narrative
firsthand accountsecondhand account
Report from an intermediary
hearsay · rumor · gossip · word of mouth · received wisdom
firsthand accounthearsay evidence
Unverified reported statements
speculation · conjecture · fabrication · circumstantial evidence · fiction
first, hand, firsthand, account, accounts, accounted, accounting, accountable, accountability