Related to or serving as evidence in a legal case or investigation.
From Late Latin 'evidentarius,' derived from 'evidens' (evident, clear). It entered legal English in the 19th century as courts needed precise terminology for rules governing what evidence could be presented.
The phrase 'evidentiary rule' determines what can be used in court, and one famous rule bars 'hearsay'—meaning you can't just say 'my friend told me you did something' as proof, which actually protects innocent people from gossip.
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