Tēst1, n.
n. [O. Fr. test, N. Fr. têt, Pr. test, Pg. & It. testo, fr. Lat. testum, an earthen vessel, from testa, an earthen pot.]
Sense 1. (Metal.) A cupel, in which metals are melted for trial and refinement.
Sense 2. Examination by the cupel; hence, any critical trial and examination.
Sense 3. Means of trial.
Each test, and every light, her muse will bear. Dryden.
Sense 4. That with which any thing is compared for proof of its genuineness; a touchstone; a standard.
Life, force, and beauty must to all impart, At once the source, the end, and test of art. Pope.
Sense 5. Discriminative characteristic; ground of admission or exclusion.
Our test excludes your tribe from benefit. Dryden.
Sense 6. Judgment; distinction; discrimination.
Who would excel, when few can make a test Betwixt indifferent writing and the best? Dryden.
Sense 7. (Chem.) A substance employed to detect any unknown constituent of a compound, by causing it to exhibit some characteristic property; a re-agent.
Test-act (Eng. Law), an oath and declaration against transubstantiation, which all officers, civil and military, were formerly obliged to take within six months after their admission. They were obliged also to receive the sacrament, according to the usage of the church of England. Brande. 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, as the scales of the wings of a butterfly, the hairs of mice or bats, for the microscope, and nebulæ, or close double-stars, for the telescope.—Test-paper. (a.) (Chem.) A strip of paper impregnated with some re-agent, as litmus or turmeric, and used for detecting the presence of certain substances in compounds. (b.) (Law.) An instrument admitted as a standard or comparison of handwriting. [U. S.]—Test-tube, or test-glass. (Chem.) (a.) A tube or glass for holding liquids to be tested. (b.) A graduated tube, containing a test-solution of indigo, used in testing chlorine water; a chlorometer.
Synonyms—Criterion; standard; experience; proof; experiment; trial.—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 commendation. 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.