GeezerVison

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /tɛst/, [tʰɛst]

  • Audio (Southern England):

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  • Audio (General American):

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  • Audio (Received Pronunciation); “a test”:

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• (Australia, New Zealand, General South African) IPA^(key): [tʰe̞st]
• Rhymes: -ɛst

From Middle English test, teste, from Old French test, teste (“an earthen vessel, especially a pot in which metals were tried”), from Latin testum (“the lid of an earthen vessel, an earthen vessel, an earthen pot”), from *terstus, past participle of the root *tersa (“dry land”). See terra, thirst. The examination sense came via metaphor of the metallurgical sense: the way a metallurgist puts to the test their gold, a teacher may put to the test their students' knowledge.

Displaced Old English afandung.

test (plural tests)

2. A challenge, trial.
   • 2012 March-April, Colin Allen, “Do I See What You See?”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 26 April 2012, page 168:

     Numerous experimental tests and other observations have been offered in favor of animal mind reading, and although many scientists are skeptical, others assert that humans are not the only species capable of representing what others do and don’t perceive and know.

   2. (academia) An examination, given often during the academic term.
   4. A session in which a product, piece of equipment, or system is examined under everyday or extreme conditions to evaluate its durability, etc.
      • 1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!‎^[2]:

        It's Christmas at ground zero / The button has been pressed / The radio / Just let us know / That this is not a test

   5. (psychology, psychometrics) A standardised measure, consisting of one or more items.

      aptitude test

      Test Theory

   7. (cricket, normally "Test") A Test match.
4. (marine biology) The external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm, e.g. sand dollars and sea urchins; testa.
6. A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement.
8. (botany) Testa; seed coat.
10. (obsolete) Judgment; distinction; discrimination.
    • 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

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

• (challenge, trial): See Thesaurus:test
• (academics: examination): examination, quiz

• (antonym(s) of “academics: examination”): recess

test (third-person singular simple present tests, present participle testing, simple past and past participle tested)

1. To challenge, to put a strain on (something).

   Climbing the mountain tested our stamina.

2. To refine (gold, silver, etc.) in a test or cupel; to subject to cupellation.
3. To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or quality of by experiment, or by some principle or standard; to try.

   to test the soundness of a principle

   to test the validity of an argument

   • September 17, 1796, George Washington, Farewell Address

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

4. (academics) To administer or assign an examination, often given during the academic term, to (somebody).
5. To place a product or piece of equipment under everyday and/or extreme conditions and examine it for its durability, etc.
   • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist‎^[3], volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 24 April 2013, page 200:

     Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems– […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies.

6. (copulative) To be shown to be by test.

   He tested positive for cancer.

   • 2015, Leta Stetter Hollingworth, Harry Levi Hollingworth, Children Above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and Development:

     It is probable that children who test above 180 IQ are actually present in our juvenile population in greater frequency than at the rate of one in a million.

7. (chemistry) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent.

   to test a solution by litmus paper

8. (intransitive, transitive, slang) To challenge (someone) to a fight.
   • 2018, U-God [Lamont Hawkins], Raw: My Journey Into The Wu-Tang, New York, N.Y.: Picador, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 31:

     Back then, you couldn't rock any type of jewelry just like that, because someone was going to test you or rob you. If you were wearing a chain, you had to be someone who was known for shooting or cutting or knocking dudes the fuck out. And someone who didn’t know you may still try and test, so you couldn't really rely on your rep to save you every time.

   • 2023 November 6, “Guapi” (1:44 from the start)‎^[4]performed by YoungBoy Never Broke Again:

     I'm feelin' special, I might fly her out to LA, yeah / I got my weapon, it turn violent if you test me, yeah

• German: testen

From Middle English teste, from Old French teste, test and Latin testis (“one who attests, a witness”).

test (plural tests)

1. (obsolete) A witness.
   • 1523-1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles

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

test (third-person singular simple present tests, present participle testing, simple past and past participle tested)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To attest (a document) legally, and date it.
2. (obsolete, intransitive) To make a testament, or will.

• attest
• contest
• detest
• protest

test (uncountable)

1. (informal, slang, bodybuilding) Clipping of testosterone.

• “test”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “test”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• ETTs, Etts, TETS, TETs, Tets, sett, stet, tets

test

1. witness

Inherited from Latin testum (“earthenware pot”), from testa (“piece of burnt clay”). Cognate with Spanish tiesto.

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈte̞st]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈtest]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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test m (plural testos)

1. flowerpot
2. potsherd

• pixar fora de test

• testa

Borrowed from English test.

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈte̞st]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈtɛst]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈtest]

test m (plural tests)

1. test (exam or challenge)

• testar
• testejar

• tèster

• “test”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “test”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

Borrowed from English test.

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɛst]
• Hyphenation: test

test m inan

1. test

   provést test ― to perform a test

• “test”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “test”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “test”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Borrowed from English test.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛsd/

3=ene

test c (singular definite testen, plural indefinite tests)

1. A test, assessment or examination.

• prøve
• afprøvning

• teste
• personlighedstest
• testresultat
• testbil

• “test” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /tɛst/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: test
• Rhymes: -ɛst

Borrowed from English test.

test m (plural testen or tests, diminutive testje n)

1. test

• experiment
• proef

• → Indonesian: tes

test

1. inflection of testen:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

From Middle Dutch test, from Old French test, from Latin testum, from testa.

test m (plural testen or tests, diminutive testje n)

1. a test, an earthen bowl or pot
2. a test, a cupel (used in smelting)

• vergiettest
• vuurtest

• Afrikaans: tessie

• IPA^(key): /tɛst/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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From Old French test, from Latin testum. The orthography of this form reflects semi-learned influence; compare the doublet têt.

test m (plural tests)

1. test, a cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement
2. (marine biology) test, the external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm

Borrowed from English test, itself from the same Old French test as above.

test m (plural tests)

1. a test, a tryout, a review

• tester

• “test”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Of unknown origin.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɛʃt]

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -ɛʃt
• Hyphenation: test

test (plural testek)

1. (anatomy) body
2. (geometry) solid (three-dimensional figure)
3. (algebra) field (commutative ring)

• test in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Unadapted borrowing from English test.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛst/
• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Hyphenation: tèst

test m (invariable)

1. test

test m (plural [please provide])

1. text

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *téśtei (“to hew”)

test (?? missing information, ?? conjugation, present ??, past ??)

1. to beat
2. to knock about
3. to flog

Borrowed from English test, ultimately from Latin testum.

• IPA^(key): /tɛst/
• Rhymes: -ɛst

test m (plural testijiet)

1. test (examination)

   Għamluli test tad-droga. ― They did a drug test on me.

From English test.

test m (definite singular testen, indefinite plural tester, definite plural testene)

1. a test

• synstest

• teste

test

1. imperative of teste

• “test” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From English test.

test m (definite singular testen, indefinite plural testar, definite plural testane)

1. a test

• synstest

• “test” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Latin testum.

test oblique singular, m (oblique plural tez or tetz, nominative singular tez or tetz, nominative plural test)

1. (uncountable) clay
2. (countable) a pot, usually made out of clay

• French: têt, test
• → Middle English: test
  • English: test (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: test
• → Middle High German: test
  • German: Test

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “test”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.

Borrowed from English test, from Middle English test, teste, from Old French test, teste, from Latin testum, from *terstus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛst/

• Audio 1:

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• Audio 2:

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• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Syllabification: test

test m inan

1. (education) examination, exam, test (formal test)

   Synonyms: egzamin, sprawdzian

• “test”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[5] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “test”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[6] (in Polish)

Borrowed from French test. Doublet of țest.

test n (plural teste)

1. test

• IPA^(key): /têst/

tȅst m inan (Cyrillic spelling те̏ст)

1. test (challenge, trial)
2. test (academics)
3. test (product examination)

Borrowed from English test.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtest/ [ˈt̪est̪]

• Audio (Colombia):

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• Rhymes: -est
• Syllabification: test

test m (plural test or tests)^[1][2][3][4]

1. test

   Synonym: prueba

2. multiple-choice test, multiple-choice question

   Synonyms: (Spain) examen tipo test, examen de opción múltiple

Like other words that end in /st/, the recommended and standard plural of test is the same as the singular, as the consonant cluster /sts/ violates Spanish phonotactics.^[2]

• “test”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

Borrowed from English test.

test c or n

1. a test, an examination, a trial
2. a test, an attempt, an experiment

• examen
• försök
• experiment
• prov
• skrivning

• testa

From Old Swedish test, related to tesa (“to pull out wool”), from Middle Low German tēsen, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *taisan (“to pull apart, tug”).

test c

1. a tuft or lock of hair

• tofs
• tuss

• hårtest

• “test”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• test in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

• sett

Derived from English test.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtest/
• Hyphenation: test

test (definite accusative testi, plural testler)

1. test
2. An exam consisting of multiple-choice questions with 3, 4 or 5 choices, labeled a through e.