tester

¹

[ tes-ter ]

noun

1. a person or thing that tests.

tester

²

[ tes-ter, tees- ]

noun

1. a canopy, as over a bed or altar.

tester

³

[ tes-ter ]

noun

1. the teston of Henry VIII.

tester

¹

/ ˈtɛstə /

noun

1. a person or thing that tests or is used for testing

tester

²

/ ˈtɛstə /

noun

1. (in furniture) a canopy, esp the canopy over a four-poster bed

tester

³

/ ˈtɛstə /

noun

1. another name for teston

Word History and Origins

Origin of tester¹

First recorded in 1655–65; test ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of tester²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English tester, testo(u)r, testir, teester “headpiece,” from Old French testiere “headpiece, head covering,” from Medieval Latin testerium, testrum, testura “canopy of a bed”; derivative of Vulgar Latin testa “head,” from Latin testa “earthenware jar; brick; tile”; test ²

Origin of tester³

First recorded in 1560–70; earlier testorn, variant of teston, with -r- from Middle French testart “teston”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tester¹

C14: from Medieval Latin testerium, from Late Latin testa a skull, from Latin: shell

Example Sentences

Pictures from last year's Halloween event showed people dressing up as a giant surveillance camera, Covid testers, and a censored Weibo post.

From BBC

"You don't think of it being in a perfume tester bottle. We didn't know what we were looking for."

From BBC

“Everything from kids mixing skincare and makeup testers together to make ‘smoothies’ to opening new makeup packages and using them.”

From Los Angeles Times

To conduct its inquiry, the organization said it used undercover testers who posed as prospective tenants.

From Los Angeles Times

Two years later, however, CAS overturned the decision and ruled that Sun had refused to cooperate with the sample testers.

From BBC

Related Words

• agent
• analyst
• auditor
• detective
• examiner
• inspector
• police
• prosecutor
• researcher