1. To make procedures to check the quality, performance, or reliability of something; especially, before putting it into general use or practice: "The computer programmer tested the new application before making it public."
2. To reveal the capabilities or strengths of someone or something by putting them under stress or strain: "Such requirements would severely test any working relationships."
3. To give people a short written or oral examination of their skills or knowledge: "All teachers of academic subjects are testing students to determine how much and how well they have learned."
4. To involve medical examinations of a person, a part of the body or a body fluid, etc.: "There are times when doctors must produce a specified result in a medical test; for example, a drug test or an AIDS test."

"The athlete tested positive for steroids after the race."

5. To touch or to taste something to determine if it is acceptable before proceeding with further actions: "The cook tested the roast to see if it had been roasted enough and the gravy to make sure it was not too salty."

Historical background for this testing term

Being tested, as students know, is an examination given by a their teachers. Naturally, whenever the teachers are evaluating their pupils, they are testing their learning skills.

No matter how the word test is used now, it has come a long way from its original meanings. The term originated in Latin testa, meaning "earthen vessel" or "earthen pot".

When silver or gold was heated in a cupel, or test, any impurities would be absorbed by the porous container, leaving pure droplets of the precious metal.

The results of such practices developed into the idea of "putting other things to the test" in a way that is suitable to prove the genuineness of something that might be examined by means of experimenting, demonstrating, or experiencing.

The original figurative senses of test are seldom realized by those who now call any examination or means of evaluation a test.

Any of several methods of detecting flaws in metals without causing damage.

The most common techniques involve the use of X-rays, gamma rays, and ultrasonic vibrations for testing the construction of the metals.

1. The attempt by the individual to evaluate and to understand the real world and his or her relation to it.
2. An ego function that enables a person to differentiate between external reality and an inner imaginative world and to behave in a manner that exhibits an awareness of accepted norms and customs.