'''Evidence''' is information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder ([[judge]] or [[jury]]) to decide the case for one side or the other.
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'''Evidence''' is a fact or information that is used to support or prove an idea or claim.
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In a [[court]], evidence is presented in the form of testimony or documents that are used to persuade the fact finder ([[judge]] or [[jury]]) to decide the case for one side or the other.
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In [[science]], evidence is used to support or [[falsifiable|falsify]] a hypothesis or theory.
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Evidence does not speak for itself, but must be interpreted.
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For example, a judge or jury must decide whether a gun found at the scene of a crime (the evidence) supports the prosecutor's claim that the gun's owner was present, or whether the gun got there by other means.
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Evidence must be able to distinguish between two competing claims.
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For example, similarity of living things ([[homology]]) does not necessarily support the [[theory of evolution]] over the [[creationism|creationary viewpoint]] because the same evidence is consistent with both ideas.
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More generally, evidence is that which tends to prove or disprove something.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evidence "Evidence," from dictionary.com]</ref> In [[Christianity]], evidence and [[faith]] are interrelated in the following [[Bible]] verse: ''Hebrews 11:1 (KJV): Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.''