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(), n.[OE. test test, or cupel, potsherd, F. tt, 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, Tte--tte.] 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 chara 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. 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 v. i.[L. testari. See Testament.] To make a testament, or will. [Obs.] Test (), Tes"ta ()} n.; pl. E. Tests (), L. Test (). [L. testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of earthenware, a shell. See Test a cupel.] 1. (Zol.) The external hard or firm covering of many invertebrate animals. 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. スポンサード リンク
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