English

test

/tɛst/
A challenge, trial.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    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.

    Etymology 2

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

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*ters- “dry”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishtest
      • derivedOld Frenchtest
        • derivedLatintestum “the lid of an earthen vessel, an earthen vessel, an earthen pot”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishteste
      • derivedOld Frenchteste
        • derivedLatintestis “one who attests, a witness”
          • derivedLatin*terstis
            • inheritedProto-Italic*tristos

    Sources