From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Test \Test\, noun [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.
Syn: Criterion; standard; experience; proof; experiment; trial.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Examination \Ex*am'i*na"tion\, noun [L. examinatio: cf. F. examination.]
1. The act of examining, or state of being examined; a careful search, investigation, or inquiry; scrutiny by study or experiment.
2. A process prescribed or assigned for testing qualification; as, the examination of a student, or of a candidate for admission to the bar or the ministry.
He neglected the studies, . . . stood low at the examinations. --Macaulay.
{Examination in chief}, or {Direct examination} (Law), that examination which is made of a witness by a party calling him.
{Cross-examination}, that made by the opposite party.
{Re["e]xamination}, or {Re-direct examination}, (Law) that questioning of a witness at trial made by the party calling the witness, after, and upon matters arising out of, the cross-examination; also called informally {re-direct}.
Syn: Search; inquiry; investigation; research; scrutiny; inquisition; inspection; exploration.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes) [syn: {scrutiny}]
2: a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge; "when the test was stolen the professor had to make a new set of questions" [syn: {exam}, {test}]
3: formal systematic questioning [syn: {interrogation}, {interrogatory}]
4: examination of conscience (as done daily by Jesuits) [syn: {examen}]
5: the act of giving students or candidates a test (as by questions) to determine what they know or have learned [syn: {testing}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
169 Moby Thesaurus words for "examination": Pap test, Socratic method, airing, analysis, anatomic diagnosis, appraisal, article, asking, assessment, assize, audition, biological diagnosis, biopsy, blue book, bringing into question, buzz session, canvassing, catechetical method, catechism, catechization, catechizing, causerie, challenge, change of venue, checkout, clinical diagnosis, colloquium, conference, consideration, contemplation, court-martial, cross-examination, cytodiagnosis, debate, debating, deliberation, descant, diagnosis, dialectic, dialogue, differential diagnosis, digital examination, discourse, discussion, dispute, disquisition, dissertation, electrocardiography, electroencephalography, electromyography, enquiry, essay, etude, exam, examen, exchange of views, excursus, exploration, exposition, eyeball inspection, feature, final, final examination, first approach, forum, going-over, great go, grilling, hearing, homily, honors, inquest, inquiring, inquiry, inquisition, inspection, interpellation, interrogation, introductory study, investigation, joint discussion, jury trial, laboratory diagnosis, logical analysis, logical discussion, lucubration, mammography, memoir, midsemester, midterm, mistrial, monograph, morceau, note, ocular inspection, open discussion, open forum, oral, oral examination, outline, overhaul, overhauling, overview, pandect, panel discussion, paper, paragraph, perlustration, perusal, physical diagnosis, physical examination, piece, postmortem diagnosis, prelim, preliminary study, probe, probing, prolegomenon, pumping, quality control, querying, questioning, quiz, quizzing, rap, rap session, research, research paper, review, run-through, scan, screed, scrutiny, search, seeking, seminar, serodiagnosis, sketch, smear, special article, study, survey, symposium, take-home examination, term paper, test, testing, the eye, theme, thesis, third degree, town meeting, tract, tractate, treatise, treatment, trial, trial by jury, tripos, urinalysis, uroscopy, ventilation, vetting, visitation, visual examination, viva, work-up, written, written examination
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