Testing

How to spell testing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce testing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does testing mean?

1. nounThe activity or process of checking, examining, or trying something to assess its quality or correctness.
2. adjectiveDifficult or demanding, putting one's strength, patience, or ability under strain.
3. verbPresent participle of 'test': in the act of trying or examining something to judge it.

Testing in a sentence

• noun

  The new software went through weeks of testing before launch.

• adjective

  The past year has been a testing time for the whole team.

• verb

  The engineers are testing the engine under extreme heat.

• noun

  The laboratory carries out blood testing for the whole region.

• adjective

  Caring for two newborns proved a deeply testing experience.

• verb

  She is testing the recipe before serving it to guests.

Where does testing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The base word 'test' came into English in the late 1300s through Old French, but its deeper root is the Latin testum, which meant an earthenware pot or crucible. Because such a vessel was used to heat and assay metals to find out whether they were genuine, the word came to stand for the act of trial or proof itself. From this metallurgical sense English developed the idea of putting any person or thing through a trial to judge its quality. The suffix '-ing' attaches to the verb to form both the gerund or noun (the process of trying something out) and the present participle. The same crucible image survives in expressions such as 'put to the test', which still echoes the original assaying of metal.

How the word is built

• test (from Latin testum: an earthen pot, later a trial)
• -ing (forming a noun or present participle)