Test
nounA procedure or examination designed to assess knowledge, ability, quality, or condition.
How to spell test
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce test
What does test mean?
- nounA procedure or examination designed to assess knowledge, ability, quality, or condition.
- verbTo examine, try out, or assess something to determine its quality, ability, or correctness.
Test in a sentence
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noun
The driving test included a long stretch of motorway.
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verb
Engineers test the bridge for structural weaknesses before opening it.
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noun
Results from the blood test arrived within two days.
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verb
The lab will test the water sample for contaminants.
Where does test come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word comes from the Old French 'test', meaning an earthen vessel, which in turn came from the Latin 'testum', a pot or crucible made of fired clay. Such crucibles were used by metalworkers to melt and assay precious metals, separating the pure from the impure. From that practical sense of 'examining metal to prove its quality' the word broadened in English during the 1500s to mean any trial or examination that establishes worth, truth, or ability. The same Latin root survives in 'testify' and in the chemistry term 'test tube', and the original meaning of a humble clay pot is a useful reminder that a test was first about proving the genuine from the false.
How the word is built
- test (from Latin testum: an earthen pot used to assay metals)
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