testis

[tes-tis]

noun, plural tes·tes [tes-teez] /ˈtɛs tiz/. Anatomy, Zoology.

the male gonad or reproductive gland, either of two oval glands located in the scrotum.

Nearby words

Origin of testis

1675–85; < Latin: “witness, spectator, testicle.” The sense “male gonad” is a loan translation from Greek parastátēs “bystander, supporter (at law),” in medical usage (in the dual and plural) “the (pair of) glands lying side by side, the testicles” (equivalent to para- para-¹ + the combining form -statēs, from histánai “to make stand.”) Compare Greekprostátēs “one who stands in front, ruler,” in medical usage “the gland lying in front, the prostate”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for teste

Teste me ipso apud Westmonasterium, xiij die Decembris, anno regni nostri xlijo.
The Grey Friars in Oxford|Andrew G. Little
We went right out to sea, so as to beat down, had fine weather, and were off Teste Island by the 16th.
Adventures in New Guinea|James Chalmers
Teste me ipso apud Westmonasterium vicesimo sexto die Maii anno regni nostri septimo.
A History of Giggleswick School|Edward Allen Bell
To the north and south of the Teste de Buch the chain of sand-hills measures from 4400 to 6600 feet in width.
The Desert World|Arthur Mangin

The people live in small detached companies, and are not so pleasant and friendly-looking a people as are the Teste islanders.
Adventures in New Guinea|James Chalmers

British Dictionary definitions for teste

testis

noun plural -tes (-tiːz)

another word for testicle

Word Origin for testis

C17: from Latin, literally: witness (to masculinity)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for teste

testis

(plural testes), 1704, from Latin testis "testicle," usually regarded as a special application of testis "witness" (see testament), presumably because it "bears witness" to virility (cf. Greek parastates, literally "one that stands by;" and French slang témoins, literally "witnesses"). But Buck thinks Greek parastatai "testicles" has been wrongly associated with the legal sense of parastates "supporter, defender" and suggests instead parastatai in the sense of twin "supporting pillars, props of a mast," etc. Walde, meanwhile, suggests a connection between testis and testa "pot, shell, etc."

Medicine definitions for teste

testis

[tĕs′tĭs]

n. pl. tes•tes (-tēz)

The male reproductive gland, the source of spermatozoa and the androgens, normally occurring paired in an external scrotum.didymus orchis

Science definitions for teste

testis

[tĕs′tĭs]

Plural testes (tĕs′tēz)

The primary reproductive organ of male animals, in which sperm and the male sex hormones (androgens) are produced. In most vertebrates, the testes are contained inside the body. In many mammals, however, the testes are enclosed in an external scrotum.