▪ I. tester1
(ˈtɛstə(r))
Forms: α. 4– tester; 5 -ere, -our, -ir, -ur(e, testre, Sc. tyster, -yr, 5–6 teester, 6 (9) testor, 6–7 -ar, teaster (9 dial.), 7 taister. β. 6 test-, teasterne, testorne, 7 -arn, -ern.
[prob. from OF.: cf. testre fem. (15th c., one example in Godef.) the vertical part of a bed behind the head; also OF. testière, mod.F. têtière a covering for the head, etc., It. testiera, Sp. testera, med.L. testera, -eria (see tester2); also med.L. testerium, testrum, testūra, also testāle, all, according to Du Cange, = ‘the upper part, top, or upper covering of a bed’, derivatives of L. testa, in late pop.L. and Comm. Romanic ‘head’.
The historical relations of these words are not quite clear, but app. med.L. testerium, -eria, It. testiera, Sp. testera, OF. testière, and ME. testere, go together in form, as do med.L. testrum, OF. and ME. testre, and perh. also med.L. testura and ME. testur; though the senses are specialized in different langs. The other Eng. forms appear to have been assimilated to various endings in -er, -ar, -or, -our, and (erratically) -ern, -orn.]
1. A canopy over a bed, supported on the posts of the bedstead or suspended from the ceiling; formerly (esp. in phrase tester and celure), the vertical part at the head of the bed which ascends to and sometimes supports the canopy, or (as some think) the wooden or metal framework supporting the canopy and curtains.
| α c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 434 In aparel of chaumbre, as in proud beddis, testeris & curteyns. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 615/17 Tapisterium, an{supc}⊇ a Testour. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 1474 Hur bede was off aszure, With testur and celure. Ibid. 1485 Ther was at hur testere The kyngus owne banere. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 489/2 Teester, or tethtere of a bed, capitellum. 1449 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) II. 156 Testur. 1454 E.E. Wills (1882) 133 My bed..wiþ the testour & Canape ther-to. 1530 Palsgr. 280/1 Testar for a bedde, dossier. 1548 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) II. xvi. 129 A bedstead gilt, with a testor and counterpoint, with curtains belonging to the same. 1556 Withals Dict. (1568) 51/1 A teaster ouer the bedde, canopus. 1670 F. Sandford Order Funeral Dk. Albemarle (1722) 5 A Bed of State of black Velvet..with black Plumes at the four Corners of the Tester. 1801 tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. III. 4 The tester of a bed..was suspended by cords to the lofty ceiling. 1899 Q. Rev. Apr. 394 The tester, carved and panelled, is surrounded by a cornice, inlaid with lighter wood, from which a crimson silk valance and curtains hang. |
| β 1546 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 351 A bed⁓stok with cortins of dornix, and testerne of the same. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Conopeum..a Canapie... Some haue vsed it for a testorne to hang ouer a bed. 1599 Nottingham Rec. IV. 252 One olde thinne silke teasterne for a bedd. 1655 tr. Com. Hist. Francion iv. 11 He took a Base Violl from the testern of his Bed. |
2. transf. and fig. Something that covers or overhangs; a shrine; a canopy carried over a dignitary; the soundboard of a pulpit, etc.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. x. 773 (Cott. MS.) He mad a tystyr [v.r. textuere] in þat qwhile, Qwhar in was cloyssit þe Ewangile, Platit oure withe siluir bricht. 1598 Florio, Baldacchino,..a testerne carried ouer Princes. 1611 Cotgr., Surciel, the tester of a cloth of State. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. iv. iv, A night under the starry tester of the heavens. 1846–75 Parker Gloss. Archit. s.v., The canopy over Queen Eleanor's tomb at Westminster is called a tester in old documents. 1908 Athenæum 1 Aug. 119/3 The remarkably fine pulpit and tester of the church of Bishop's Waltham. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as tester-bed, tester-bedstead, tester cloth, tester-rail; tester-covering adj.
| 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxvi. 85 The rich and sumptuous Beds, with Tester-couering plumes. 1730 Southall Bugs 35 Oak-Bedsteds, and plain Wainscot Head-Boards, and Tester-Rails of that Wood. 1776 in J. S. Moore Goods & Chattels of our Forefathers (1976) 270 Bedstead, Green Curtains, Vallens and Head and Tester Cloths etc. 1843 Borrow Bible in Spain xxiii. (Pelh. Libr.) 160, I was stretched on the tester bed. 1853 Heal & Sons Catal.: Bedsteads 59 Half-Tester Bedstead..Chintz Furniture..fringed and fluted head and tester cloth. 1873 Sat. Rev. 29 Nov. 707/1 The mother of St. John the Baptist is supported by cushions in a tester bedstead. |
Hence testered (ˈtɛstəd) a., having a tester.
| 1790 A. M. Johnson Monmouth I. 70 The lofty testered bed..was in a ruinous state. |
▪ II. † ˈtester2 Obs.
Also 5 teˈstere, teeˈsteer, testor, ‖ testiere.
[a. OF. testière (12th c. in Godef. Compl.) ‘any kind of head-peece, particularly a scull, sallet, or steele cap, also the crowne of a hat’ (Cotgr.), mod.F. têtière covering of the top of the head, coif, headstall of a horse, = It. testiera ‘head piece, a caske or helmet, testerne or head of any thing, head-stall of a bridle’ (Florio), Sp. testera ‘armour for the forehead of a horse’ (Minsheu), Pg. testeira ‘anything to cover the front’, med.L. testera, testeria (Du Cange), f. testa, OF. teste head.]
A piece of armour for the head; a head-piece, a casque; also, a piece of armour for the head of a horse; a kind of mask or visor with holes for the eyes, apertures for the ears, etc.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1641 The sheeldes brighte, testeres [v.rr. testers, teesteers], and trappures, Gold hewen helmes, hauberkes. 1465 Mann. & Househ. Exp. Eng. (Roxb.) 285 The man that maketh his testor of mayle. 1484 Caxton Chivalry 67 To his hors is gyuen in his hede a testiere to signefye that a knyȝt ought to do none armes without reason. |
▪ III. tester3 arch.
(ˈtɛstə(r))
Forms: α. 6 testourn, teastern, 6–7 testern, -erne, -orn, -orne; β. 6–7 testor, 7 -ar, teaster, 6– tester.
[app. the result of a series of corruptions or perversions of teston.]
A name for the teston of Henry VIII, esp. as debased and depreciated; subsequently a colloquial or slang term for a sixpence.
| α 1546 Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) I. 176 Condemned for treason for counterfeiting testornes. 1560 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 223 Knowledge of the better testornes from the worse. 1579 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 72 Eloquence..were more worth then a crackd testerne in his purse. 1614 J. Cooke Greene's Tu Quoque D iij b, A testerne or a shilling to a seruant that brings you a glasse of beere, bindes his hands to his lippes. |
| β 1567–8 in 11th Rep. Dep. Kpr. Irel. 180 With not more than two testors a day each. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 296 Hold, there is a Tester for thee. 1608 Day Law Trickes iii. i, Prethee giue the Fidler a testar and send him packing. 1613 J. Tapp Pathw. Knowl. 53 There is also the Tester or halfe shilling which is 6d. 1765 Foote Commissary i. Wks. 1799 II. 8, I hope you'll tip me the tester to drink. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Praise Chimneysweepers, If it be starving weather..the demand on thy humanity will surely rise to a tester. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 94 Well! it was worth a silver tester, To see how she frowned when the Abbess blessed her. |
▪ IV. tester4
(ˈtɛstə(r))
[Agent-n. f. test v.2 or n.1: see -er1.]
a. One who tests or proves, or whose business is to test the quality or condition of anything; a device for testing. In quot. 1697, (?) a supporter of religious or political tests.
| 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 128 Those wary testers, that like not to be cheated. 1697 I. Wright in Collect. Dying Test. (1806) 42 Testers, Banders, Bloodshedders, Consenters to Blood. 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3818/4 The Queen has been pleased to appoint..Hopton Hains Esq., Weigher and Tester of the Mint. 1882 Ogilvie (Annandale), Tester, one who tests [etc.]; as, a good tester. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl., Steam Gage Tester, an instrument to test the accuracy of the steam gage. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 14 Jan. 8/1 A train..stops; a tester is going round with his hammer striking the wheels. 1910 Ibid. 8 Mar. 5/2 A device which commends itself to..owners of motor-cars generally is the Acer brake horse-power tester. |
b. Biol. A stock or strain of organism used to investigate some genetic characteristic of another strain.
| 1925 Genetics X. 421 Two other stocks were needed as ‘testers’. 1969 A. M. Campbell Episomes iii. 37 Operationally, a bacterial culture is termed F+ if it will mate with an F- tester strain. |
Add: c. A dispenser or other device from which a trial sample of a product (esp. cosmetics or perfume) can be obtained. orig. U.S.
| 1978 Product Marketing May 8/4 On counters, there will be filter testers that are dipped into the fragrances that women can take with them. 1981 N.Y. Times 21 Apr. b14/3 Carmen Romano de López Portillo, wife of the President of Mexico, bought $1,600 in Madeleine Mono products, including the tester display. 1988 M. Atwood Cat's Eye (1989) xxxix. 211 We walk up and down the aisles, spraying ourselves from the cologne testers. 1990 Ideal Home Apr. 37 (caption) Available in 1 ltr and 2.5-ltr cans, plus a tester size, Pearl Shimmer costs about {pstlg}12.49 per 2.5 ltr. |