tester

¹ American  

[tes-ter] / ˈtɛs tər /

noun

1. a person or thing that tests.

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tester ² American  

[tes-ter, tees-] / ˈtɛs tər, ˈtis- /

noun

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

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tester ³ American  

[tes-ter] / ˈtɛs tər /

noun

1. the teston of Henry VIII.

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tester ¹ British  

/ ˈtɛstə /

noun

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

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tester ² British  

/ ˈtɛstə /

noun

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

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tester ³ British  

/ ˈtɛstə /

noun

1. another name for teston

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Etymology

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”; see test ²

Origin of tester³

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

Explanation

When someone is a tester, they either administer tests or they assess the safety or function of a product. You might hope for an eventual career as a bubblegum tester. When you take a standardized exam, a tester will hand out papers and collect them when your time is up. And when you get a driver's license, a tester will ride along with you in the car during your road test. There's another type of tester that's a free sample, like a lipstick tester you can try on in a store. And an old-fashioned tester is the fabric canopy on the top of a four-poster bed.

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