testis
Americannoun
-
testes
plural
noun
-
testes
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of testis
First recorded 1675–85; from 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 ( def. ) + the combining form -statēs, from histánai “to make stand.”) Compare Greek prostátēs “one who stands in front, ruler,” in medical usage “the gland lying in front, the prostate ( def. ) ”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the cell, it binds to other DNA, leading to testis formation, according to the National Library of Medicine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Four additional genes are active only in the testis and are essential for sperm production.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2026
Previous research has shown that STK33 is enriched in the testis and is specifically required for the formation of functional sperm.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
"In humans, differently from other animal species and lower mammalians, testis are located outside of the abdomen. This contributes to the maintenance of an organ temperature 2º to 4° C below core body temperature."
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2024
A similar though perhaps a slower effect is produced when the duct of the testis, the vas deferens, is divided on each side of the body.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 1 "Bisharin" to "Bohea" by Various
Some can be born with external female genitalia but functioning testes, and are often certified as female at birth and raised as such.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2025
In the brain, sexual differentiation starts before birth and results from a combination of sex chromosomes in brain tissue, sex hormones produced by the testes or ovaries and the environment.
From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2025
Researchers found high levels of microplastics in human and dog testes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2024
Over the past couple of decades researchers have found that long-distance signaling goes beyond a few glands and organs—the pancreas, thyroid, testes, and ovaries—that spill out familiar hormones such as insulin and testosterone.
From Science Magazine ● May 22, 2024
“Ten males had amounts ranging from 30 to 109 parts per million in the testes, and two females had 151 and 211 parts per million respectively in the egg follicles in their ovaries.”
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
