Test Test noun [ Middle English test test, or cupel, potsherd, French têt , from Latin testum an earthen vessel; akin to testa a piece of burned clay, an earthen pot, a potsherd, perhaps for tersta , and akin to torrere to patch, terra earth (cf. Thirst , and Terrace ), but confer Zend tasta cup. Confer Test a shell, Testaceous , Tester a covering, a coin, Testy , Tête-à- tête .] 1. (Metal.) A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement.

Our ingots, tests , and many mo.

Chaucer. 2. Examination or trial by the cupel; hence, any critical examination or decisive trial; as, to put a man's assertions to a test . "Bring me to the test ." Shak. 3. Means of trial; as, absence is a test of love.

Each test every light her muse will bear.

Dryden. 4. That with which anything is compared for proof of its genuineness; a touchstone; a standard.

Life, force, and beauty must to all impart,
At once the source, and end, and test of art.

Pope. 5. Discriminative characteristic; standard of judgment; ground of admission or exclusion.

Our test excludes your tribe from benefit.

Dryden. 6. Judgment; distinction; discrimination.

Who would excel, when few can make a test
Betwixt indifferent writing and the best?

Dryden. 7. (Chemistry) A reaction employed to recognize or distinguish any particular substance or constituent of a compound, as the production of some characteristic precipitate; also, the reagent employed to produce such reaction; thus, the ordinary test for sulphuric acid is the production of a white insoluble precipitate of barium sulphate by means of some soluble barium salt. Test act (Eng. Law) , an act of the English Parliament prescribing a form of oath and declaration against transubstantiation, which all officers, civil and military, were formerly obliged to take within six months after their admission to office. They were obliged also to receive the sacrament according to the usage of the Church of England. Blackstone. -- Test object (Optics) , an object which tests the power or quality of a microscope or telescope, by requiring a certain degree of excellence in the instrument to determine its existence or its peculiar texture or markings. -- Test paper . (a) (Chemistry) Paper prepared for use in testing for certain substances by being saturated with a reagent which changes color in some specific way when acted upon by those substances; thus, litmus paper is turned red by acids, and blue by alkalies, turmeric paper is turned brown by alkalies, etc. (b) (Law) An instrument admitted as a standard or comparison of handwriting in those jurisdictions in which comparison of hands is permitted as a mode of proving handwriting. -- Test tube . (Chemistry) (a) A simple tube of thin glass, closed at one end, for heating solutions and for performing ordinary reactions. (b) A graduated tube. Syn. -- Criterion; standard; experience; proof; experiment; trial. -- Test , Trial . Trial is the wider term; test is a searching and decisive trial . It is derived from the Latin testa (earthen pot), which term was early applied to the fining pot , or crucible , in which metals are melted for trial and refinement. Hence the peculiar force of the word, as indicating a trial or criterion of the most decisive kind.

I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commediation.

Shak.

Thy virtue, prince, has stood the test of fortune,
Like purest gold, that tortured in the furnace,
Comes out more bright, and brings forth all its weight.

Addison.

Test Test transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tested ; present participle & verbal noun Testing .] 1. (Metal.) To refine, as gold or silver, in a test, or cupel; to subject to cupellation. 2. To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or quality of by experiment, or by some principle or standard; to try; as, to test the soundness of a principle; to test the validity of an argument.

Experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution.

Washington. 3. (Chemistry) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent; as, to test a solution by litmus paper.

Test Test noun [ Latin testis . Confer Testament , Testify .] A witness. [ Obsolete]

Prelates and great lords of England, who were for the more surety tests of that deed.

Ld. Berners.

Test Test intransitive verb [ Latin testari . See Testament .] To make a testament, or will. [ Obsolete]

Test Test Tes"ta noun ; plural English Tests , Latin Testæ . [ Latin testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of earthenware, a shell. See Test a cupel.] 1. (Zoology) The external hard or firm covering of many invertebrate animals. » The test of crustaceans and insects is composed largely of chitin; in mollusks it is composed chiefly of calcium carbonate, and is called the shell . 2. (Botany) The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or spermoderm.

Testable Test"a·ble adjective [ See Testament .] 1. Capable of being tested or proved. 2. Capable of being devised, or given by will.

Testacea Tes·ta"ce·a noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin testaceum a shelled anumal. See Testaceous .] (Zoology) Invertebrate animals covered with shells, especially mollusks; shellfish.

Testacean Tes·ta"cean noun (Zoology) Onr of the Testacea.

Testaceography Tes·ta`ce·og"ra·phy noun [ Testacea + -graphy : confer French testacéographie .] The science which treats of testaceans, or shellfish; the description of shellfish. [ R.]

Testaceology Tes·ta`ce·ol"o·gy noun [ Testacea + -logy : confer French testacéologie .] The science of testaceous mollusks; conchology. [ R.]

Testaceous Tes·ta"ceous adjective [ Latin testaceus , from testa a shell. See Testa .] 1. Of or pertaining to shells; consisted of a hard shell, or having a hard shell. 2. (Bot. & Zoology) Having a dull red brick color or a brownish yellow color. Testaceous animals (Zoology) , animals having a firm, calcareous shell, as oysters and clams, thus distinguished from crustaceous animals , whose shells are more thin and soft, and consist of several joints, or articulations, as lobsters and crabs.

Testacy Tes"ta·cy noun [ See Testate .] (Law) The state or circumstance of being testate, or of leaving a valid will, or testament, at death.

Testament Tes"ta·ment noun [ French, from Latin testamentum , from testari to be a witness, to make one's last will, akin to testis a witness. Confer Intestate , Testify .] 1. (Law) A solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his will as to disposal of his estate and effects after his death. » This is otherwise called a will , and sometimes a last will and testament . A testament , to be valid, must be made by a person of sound mind; and it must be executed and published in due form of law. A man, in certain cases, may make a valid will by word of mouth only. See Nuncupative will , under Nuncupative . 2. One of the two distinct revelations of God's purposes toward man; a covenant; also, one of the two general divisions of the canonical books of the sacred Scriptures, in which the covenants are respectively revealed; as, the Old Testament ; the New Testament ; -- often limited, in colloquial language, to the latter.

He is the mediator of the new testament . . . for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament .

Hebrew ix. 15. Holographic testament , a testament written wholly by the testator himself. Bouvier.

Testamental Tes`ta·men"tal adjective [ Latin testamentalis .] Of or pertaining to a testament; testamentary.

Thy testamental cup I take,
And thus remember thee.

J. Montgomery.

Testamentary Tes`ta·men"ta·ry adjective [ Latin testamentarius : confer French testamentaire .] 1. Of or pertaining to a will, or testament; as, letters testamentary . 2. Bequeathed by will; given by testament.

How many testamentary charities have been defeated by the negligence or fraud of executors!

Atterbury. 3. Done, appointed by, or founded on, a testament, or will; as, a testamentary guardian of a minor, who may be appointed by the will of a father to act in that capacity until the child becomes of age.

Testamentation Tes`ta·men·ta"tion noun The act or power of giving by testament, or will. [ R.] Burke.

Testamentize Tes"ta·men·tize intransitive verb To make a will. [ Obsolete] Fuller.

Testamur Tes·ta"mur noun [ Latin , we testify, from testari to testify.] (Eng. Universities) A certificate of merit or proficiency; -- so called from the Latin words, Ita testamur , with which it commences.

Testate Tes"tate adjective [ Latin testatus , past participle of testari . See Testament .] (Law) Having made and left a will; as, a person is said to die testate . Ayliffe.

Testate Tes"tate noun (Law) One who leaves a valid will at death; a testate person. [ R.]

Testation Tes·ta"tion noun [ Latin testatio .] A witnessing or witness. [ Obsolete] Bp. Hall.

Testator Tes·ta"tor noun [ Latin : confer French testateur .] (Law) A man who makes and leaves a will, or testament, at death.

Testatrix Tes·ta"trix noun [ Latin ] (Law) A woman who makes and leaves a will at death; a female testator.

Teste Tes"te noun [ So called from Latin teste , abl. of testis a witness, because this was formerly the initial word in the clause.] (Law) (a) A witness. (b) The witnessing or concluding clause, duty attached; -- said of a writ, deed, or the like. Burrill.

Tester Tes"ter noun [ Middle English testere a headpiece, helmet, Old French testiere , French têtière a head covering, from Old French teste the head, French tête , from Latin testa an earthen pot, the skull. See Test a cupel, and confer Testière .] 1. A headpiece; a helmet. [ Obsolete]

The shields bright, testers , and trappures.

Chaucer. 2. A flat canopy, as over a pulpit or tomb. Oxf. Gross. 3. A canopy over a bed, supported by the bedposts.

No testers to the bed, and the saddles and portmanteaus heaped on me to keep off the cold.

Walpole.

Tester Tes"ter noun [ For testern , teston , from French teston , from Old French teste the head, the head of the king being impressed upon the coin. See Tester a covering, and confer Testone , Testoon .] An old French silver coin, originally of the value of about eighteen pence, subsequently reduced to ninepence, and later to sixpence, sterling. Hence, in modern English slang, a sixpence; -- often contracted to tizzy . Called also teston . Shak.

Testern Tes"tern noun A sixpence; a tester. [ Obsolete]

Testern Tes"tern transitive verb To present with a tester. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Testes Tes"tes noun , plural of Teste , or of Testis .

Testicardines Tes`ti·car"di·nes noun plural [ New Latin See Test a shell, and Cardo .] (Zoology) A division of brachiopods including those which have a calcareous shell furnished with a hinge and hinge teeth. Terebratula and Spirifer are examples.

Testicle Tes"ti·cle noun [ Latin testiculus , dim. of testis a testicle, probably the same word as testis a witness, as being a witness to manhood. Confer Test a witness.] (Anat.) One of the essential male genital glands which secrete the semen.

Testicond Tes"ti·cond adjective [ Latin testis testis + condere to hide.] (Zoology) Having the testicles naturally concealed, as in the case of the cetaceans.

Testicular Tes·tic"u·lar adjective (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the testicle.

Testiculate Tes·tic"u·late adjective [ New Latin testiculatus .] (Botany) (a) Shaped like a testicle, ovate and solid. (b) Having two tubers resembling testicles in form, as some species of orchis.

Testière Tes`ti·ère" noun [ Old French testiere . See Tester a headpiece.] A piece of plate armor for the head of a war horse; a tester.

Testif Tes"tif adjective [ See Testy .] Testy; headstrong; obstinate. [ Obsolete]

Testif they were and lusty for to play.

Chaucer.

Testification Tes`ti·fi·ca"tion noun [ Latin testificatio : confer Old French testification . See Testify .] The act of testifying, or giving testimony or evidence; as, a direct testification of our homage to God. South.

Testificator Tes"ti·fi·ca`tor noun [ New Latin ] A testifier.

Testifier Tes"ti·fi`er noun One who testifies; one who gives testimony, or bears witness to prove anything; a witness.

Testify Tes"ti·fy intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Testified ; present participle & verbal noun Testifying .] [ Old French testifier , Latin testificari ; testis a witness + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See - fy , and confer Attest , Contest , Detest , Protest , Testament .] 1. To make a solemn declaration, verbal or written, to establish some fact; to give testimony for the purpose of communicating to others a knowledge of something not known to them.

Jesus . . . needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man.

John ii. 25. 2. (Law) To make a solemn declaration under oath or affirmation, for the purpose of establishing, or making proof of, some fact to a court; to give testimony in a cause depending before a tribunal.

One witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

Num. xxxv. 30. 3. To declare a charge; to protest; to give information; to bear witness; -- with against .

O Israel, . . . I will testify against thee.

Ps. l. 7.

I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.

Neh. xiii. 15.

Testify Tes"ti·fy transitive verb 1. To bear witness to; to support the truth of by testimony; to affirm or declare solemny.

We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

John iii. 11. 2. (Law) To affirm or declare under oath or affirmation before a tribunal, in order to prove some fact.

Testify Tes"ti·fy adverb In a testy manner; fretfully; peevishly; with petulance.

Testimonial Tes`ti·mo"ni·al noun [ Confer Old French testimoniale , Late Latin testimonialis , Latin testimoniales (sc. litteræ ). See Testimonial , adjective ] 1. A writing or certificate which bears testimony in favor of one's character, good conduct, ability, etc., or of the value of a thing. 2. Something, as money or plate, presented to a preson as a token of respect, or of obligation for services rendered.

Testimonial Tes`ti·mo"ni·al adjective [ Latin testimonialis : confer French testimonial .] Relating to, or containing, testimony.

Testimony Tes"ti·mo·ny noun ; plural Testimonies . [ Latin testimonium , from testis a witness: confer Old French testimoine , testemoine , testimonie . See Testify .] 1. A solemn declaration or affirmation made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact. » Such declaration, in judicial proceedings, may be verbal or written, but must be under oath or affirmation. 2. Affirmation; declaration; as, these doctrines are supported by the uniform testimony of the fathers; the belief of past facts must depend on the evidence of human testimony , or the testimony of historians. 3. Open attestation; profession.

[ Thou] for the testimony of truth, hast borne
Universal reproach.

Milton. 4. Witness; evidence; proof of some fact.

When ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them.

Mark vi. 11. 5. (Jewish Antiq.) The two tables of the law.

Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

Ex. xxv. 16. 6. Hence, the whole divine revelation; the sacre... Scriptures.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Ps. xix. 7. Syn. -- Proof; evidence; attestation; witness; affirmation; confirmation; averment. -- Testimony , Proof , Evidence . Proof is the most familiar, and is used more frequently (though not exclusively) of facts and things which occur in the ordinary concerns of life. Evidence is a word of more dignity, and is more generally applied to that which is moral or intellectual; as, the evidences of Christianity, etc. Testimony is what is deposed to by a witness on oath or affirmation. When used figuratively or in a wider sense, the word testimony has still a reference to some living agent as its author, as when we speak of the testimony of conscience, or of doing a thing in testimony of our affection, etc. Testimony refers rather to the thing declared, evidence to its value or effect. "To conform our language more to common use, we ought to divide arguments into demonstrations, proofs , and probabilities; ba proofs , meaning such arguments from experience as leave no room for doubt or opposition." Hume. "The evidence of sense is the first and highest kind of evidence of which human nature is capable." Bp. Wilkins. "The proof of everything must be by the testimony of such as the parties produce." Spenser.

Testimony Tes"ti·mo·ny transitive verb To witness; to attest; to prove by testimony. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Testiness Tes"ti·ness noun The quality or state of being testy; fretfulness; petulance.

Testiness is a disposition or aptness to be angry.

Locke.

Testing Test"ing noun 1. The act of testing or proving; trial; proof. 2. (Metal.) The operation of refining gold or silver in a test , or cupel; cupellation. Testing machine (Engineering) , a machine used in the determination of the strength of materials, as iron, stone, etc., and their behavior under strains of various kinds, as elongation, bending, crushing, etc.

Testis Tes"tis noun ; plural Testes . [ Latin ] (Anat.) A testicle.

Teston Tes"ton noun A tester; a sixpence. [ Obsolete]