Test \Test\, n. [OE. test test, or cupel, potsherd, F. t[^e]t, from L. 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 cf. Zend tasta cup. Cf. {Test} a shell, {Testaceous}, {Tester} a covering, a coin, {Testy}, {T[^e]te-[`a]-t[^e]te}.] 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. (Chem.) 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.
8. A set of questions to be answered or problems to be solved, used as a means to measure a person's knowledge, aptitude, skill, intelligence, etc.; in school settings, synonymous with {examination} or {exam}; as, an intelligence test. Also used attributively; as a test score, test results. [PJC]
{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) (Chem.) 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}. (Chem.) (a) A simple tube of thin glass, closed at one end, for heating solutions and for performing ordinary reactions. (b) A graduated tube.
Usage: {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\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tested}; p. pr. & vb. n. {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. (Chem.) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent; as, to test a solution by litmus paper.
4. To administer a test[8] to (someone) for the purpose of ascertaining a person's knowledge or skill; especially, in academic settings, to determine how well a student has learned the subject matter of a course of instruction. [PJC]
Test \Test\, n. [L. testis. Cf. {Testament}, {Testify}.] A witness. [Obs.]
Prelates and great lords of England, who were for the more surety tests of that deed. --Ld. Berners.
Test \Test\, v. i. [L. testari. See {Testament}.] To make a testament, or will. [Obs.]
Test \Test\, Testa \Tes"ta\, n.; pl. E. {Tests}, L. {Test[ae]}. [L. testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of earthenware, a shell. See {Test} a cupel.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) The external hard or firm covering of many invertebrate animals.
Note: 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. (Bot.) The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or spermoderm.
The new test is based on a portion of the protein that makes up the outer jacket of the AIDS virus.
Bergsten said the key test will come in whether the United States is willing to share decision-making on international issues as it seeks funding help from other countries.
His worry persisted after a blood test proved negative, and he was referred to Harmon by an AIDS hot line.
But there was no conclusive proof, and a second test application began Sunday.
"The present acceleration of history is one in which the partnership is being put to a test," he said, adding that the two nations would pass the test because of their common interests and U.S. goodwill.
"The present acceleration of history is one in which the partnership is being put to a test," he said, adding that the two nations would pass the test because of their common interests and U.S. goodwill.
Despite the recent controversy, Mr. Garrision is hopeful a successful test will prove a shot in the arm for Morton Thiokol.
If the test of bureaucracy is distance from the profit motive, the military forces qualify.
In another room, Marlowe takes a circular section cut from the middle of a condom, similar to a wide rubber band, and stretches it on a machine to test its tensile strength _ how far it will stretch before it snaps.
The dollar shed nearly three pfennig and about one and a half yen overall, surprising many traders who had expected the U.S. currency to test the upper end of its range.
The 33-year-old Ms. Shurtleff was fired in July 1985 for insubordination after refusing to work with another member of the test crew.
The doctor, David Collings, performed 338 operations in Britain after returning last year from five years in his native Zimbabwe. Health officials are trying to find the patients to offer them counseling and, if necessary, a free blood test.
Norway's $500 million offering, launched last Monday, was seen as a major test of reviving investor appetite for Eurodollar securities.
The test subjects only could detect the odorant at high concentrations that for most people would be unbearable.
In a 1973 ruling, the Supreme Court said that a three-part test should be used in determining whether something is obscene.
Because the test car had the optional High Capacity Actively Controlled Steering, the Q45 also barely showed any body roll, or yaw in sudden lane changes and side moves.
The Soviet Union indicated it would soon resume its nuclear-weapons testing program because of Tuesday's test blast by the U.S.
If the test proves successful, it could allow blood contaminated with the virus to be detected and thus prevent transmission of the disease through blood transfusions.
I don't know what will happen when we are put to the test. What does 1992 mean for Spain? It is profoundly important.
William G. Scheerer was named a director of this maker of electronic test systems, filling a vacancy.
It was the third "captive carry flight test" for Pegasus, which remains attached to the jet during such tests.
General Dynamics Corp. got a $15.8 million Air Force contract for retrofit of F-16 aircraft stores management system test equipment.
The test car, an upscale XR2 turbo, seemed at ease in many sport maneuvers as well as on leisurely Sunday drives.
In recent years, they used it as a guinea pig to test various things.
It is designed to test the effects of zero gravity on bone healing in space.
If you are lucky, and you or your driver are savvy enough, the 'Aids test' can be circumvented by a small 'gift' at the border.
A U.S. team visited the Soviet test facility earlier this month.
He adds that the test has faultlessly identified more than a dozen known carcinogenic substances in experiments on its reliability.
Now the U.S. Hot Rod Association says it will "conduct its own independent, objective test" Friday using Bearfoot, the truck used in the ads.
But last night, the House Rules Committee decided to permit it, essentially turning the vote into a test of organized labor's muscle on Capitol Hill.