testis

[tes-tis]

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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.

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

Related Words for testis

genitalia, nuts, gonads, vulva, testes, stones, pudenda, ballocks, balls, cullions, rocks, heart, marrow, stomach, tongue, tripe, brains, chitlins, chitterlings

Examples from the Web for testis

Historical Examples of testis

The outer coat of the testis is called the tunica albuginea.
The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of Reproduction
Winfield S. Hall
The testis of the male lies in the thorax, just below the heart.
The Life of Crustacea
William Thomas Calman
Spermatozoa originate in the testis as cells, which are filled with granules.
Plain Facts for Old and Young
John Harvey Kellogg
The number of segmental tubes connected with the testis varies very greatly.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)
Francis Maitland Balfour
In the case of Reptilia the anterior two or three segmental tubes in the region of the testis probably have this function.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)
Francis Maitland Balfour

British Dictionary definitions for testis

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 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."

testis in Medicine

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

testis in Science

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.