testa

Borrowed from Latin testa.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛstə/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -ɛstə
• Hyphenation: tes‧ta

testa (plural testas or testae or testæ)

1. (botany) A seed coat.

   The testa develops from the tissue, the integument, originally surrounding the ovule.

   • 1840, James Scott Bowerbank, A History of the Fossil Fruits and Seeds of the London Clay, page 30:

     The seeds are furnished with a reticulated testa, very much in appearance like that of the seeds of two closely-allied pericarps in the cabinet of my friend Mr. Ward, of Wellclose-square, the names of which I have been unable to obtain, but which present strong evidence of belonging to the Malvaceæ.

   • 1969, C. W. Bennett, Seed Transmission of Plant Viruses, Alison Smith, Advances in Virus Research, Volume 14, page 224,

     In tests with the Lincoln and Virginia varieties of cowpea, Crowley (1959) found that, in plants infected with bean southern mosaic virus before blossoming, the virus was present in nearly 100% of the testae and endosperms of seeds of both varieties, but could not be detected in the embryos.

   • 1977, Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial Research Organization, Australian Journal of Plant Physiology, page 354:

     Thus, two conditions must be satisfied for the testas to have this effect: contact between the testas and the radicle, and the presence of at least half of the testas.

   • 2005, D. W. Dickson, D. De Waele, Nematode Parasites of Peanut, Michel Luc, Richard A. Sikora, John Bridge, Plant Parasitic Nematodes in Subtropical and Tropical Agriculture, page 419,

     A.^{[Aphelenchoides]} arachidis is a parasite of pods, testae, roots and hypocotyls, but not the cotyledons, embryos or other parts of the plant (Bos, 1977a; Bridge et al., 1977).

   • 2007, J. Smartt, “Evolution of American Phaseolus beans under domestication”, in Peter John Ucko, G. W. Dimbleby, editors, The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals, page 458:

     One of the most remarkable features of cultivated beans is the enormous range of testa colours and patterns which can be found.

2. (marine biology) The external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm; the test.

• Tates, Teats, State, teats, state, Tetas, taste, atest, aetts, Satet

Unadapted borrowing from Portuguese testa, from Old Galician-Portuguese testa, from Latin testa.

testa

1. forehead

• D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998), Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎^[1], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Inherited from Latin testa (“burned clay; baked earthenware”).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈtes.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtes.ta]

testa f (plural testes)

1. (Empordanese) head

   Synonym: cap

2. end (of a post, plank, barrel, etc.)
3. (botany) testa (the outer layer of a seed coat)

• test

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈtes.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtes.ta]

testa

1. feminine singular of test (“tense”)

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈtɛs.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtes.ta]

testa

1. inflection of testar (“to test”):
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈtes.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtes.ta]

testa

1. inflection of testar (“to witness”):
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “testa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

testa (Old Beaujolais, Piemontais)

1. alternative form of téta (“head”)

• testa in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

• IPA^(key): /tɛs.ta/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

testa

1. third-person singular past historic of tester

• états, tâtes, tétas

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese testa (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin testa (“earthen pot”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛsta/ [ˈt̪ɛs̺.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -ɛsta
• Hyphenation: tes‧ta

testa f (plural testas)

1. forehead
   • 1390, José Luís Pensado Tomé (ed.), Os Miragres de Santiago. Versión gallega del Códice latino del siglo XII atribuido al papa Calisto I. Madrid: C.S.I.C., page 133:

     Et avia ẽno rrostro hũu palmo et meo en longo et ẽna barua hũu palmo, et ẽno nariz hũu meo palmo; et ẽna testa hũu palmo et pouquo mais

     He had a palmspan and a half in his face, and in the beard a palmspan, and half one in the nose; and in the front he had one palmspan and a little more

   • 1434, A. López Carreira (ed.), Libro de Notas de Álvaro Afonso, doc. 90:

     os quaes roçiins era huun delles ven preto con hun signal enna testa et ho outro ben çerbyño con huna mancha enna testa

     one of that horses was really dark, with a signal in his forehead, and the other was tawny with a spot in his forehead

   Synonym: fronte

2. (figurative) the whole head of a person
   • 1697, several authors, Fiestas Minervales, Santiago: Antonio Frayz, page 34:

     Dubido do que farei / Para saír desta enfeita / Maxino roer as uñas / E bourar mui ben na testa

     I'm dubious on what to do / To exit of this preparation / I imagine gnawing my nails / And ably beating my head

   Synonyms: cabeza, cachola, croca

3. limit of a property

   Synonyms: derrego, estremeiro, límite, lindeiro

4. fore

   Synonym: fronte

5. lid

   Synonym: tello

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtesta/ [ˈt̪es̺.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -esta
• Hyphenation: tes‧ta

testa f sg

1. feminine singular of testo

testa

1. inflection of testar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “testa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “testa” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “testa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “testa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “testa”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛs.ta/^[1]

• Audio (la testa):

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• Audio (testa):

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• Rhymes: -ɛsta
• Hyphenation: tè‧sta

From Latin testa. The semantic development is earthen pot → skull → head.

testa f (plural teste, diminutive testìna or testolìna or (uncommon, usually of butchered animals) testicciòla or (literary, uncommon, usually of butchered animals) testicciuòla, augmentative testóna or (with specialized meanings) testóne m, pejorative testàccia, derogatory testùccia)

1. (anatomy) head
2. (numismatics) obverse (of a coin)
3. (anatomy) head (of a bone)
4. (rail transport, singular only, uncountable) head (of a train), the first car(s)

   Antonym: coda

   La prima classe è in testa al treno ― The first class is at the head of the train

• (part of the body): capo

• → Alemannic German: Teste
• → Spanish: testa

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

testa

1. inflection of testare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• Setta, setta, state

Unknown:

• Perhaps as if tosta, from torreō (“to burn, parch”).^[1]
• Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *tₔtḱ-t-, from *tetḱ- (“to create, produce”) (whence Latin texō (“to weave”)), and thus cognate with Middle Persian tšt' (tašt). This is considered unlikely by De Vaan for semantic reasons.^[2]
• Borrowed from a substrate language, as words for vessels often are.^[2]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛs.ta]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛs.ta]

testa f (genitive testae); first declension

1. a piece of burned clay, brick, tile
2. (transferred sense) a piece of baked earthenware
   1. an earthen pot, pitcher, jug, urn
   2. a sherd, potsherd
   3. a piece of bone
   4. ostracon (= ὄστρακον (óstrakon))
   5. the shell of shellfish or of testaceous animals, shellfish
   6. (Late Latin) skull

      Synonyms: calva, calvāria, crānium

3. a sort of clapping with the flat of the hands (as if with two tiles), in token of applause, invented by Nero

First-declension noun.

• testū/ testum
• testūdō
• testula

• testuātium
• testūdineātus
• testūdineus

• “testa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “testa”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "testa", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “testa”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “testa”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• testa in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “testa”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Cravens, Thomas D. Cross-language evidence in etymology: The origin of 'testa' as 'head' in Romance. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 83: 53–60.

testa m

1. genitive singular of tests

• tèsta (Classical Milanese Orthography)

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛsta/ (Milanese)

testa f

1. head

Unadapted borrowing from Portuguese testa, from Old Galician-Portuguese testa, from Latin testa.

testa

1. forehead

• Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara (2021), Kamus Dwibahasa Melayu Manado-Indonesia (in Indonesian), Manado: Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara

• testet

testa

1. inflection of teste:
   1. simple past
   2. past participle

testa f (plural testas)

1. alternative form of tèsta

From Latin testa.

testa f (oblique plural testas, nominative singular testa, nominative plural testas)

1. head

• Occitan: tèsta, testa (Limousin)

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

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• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ɛstɐ, (Portugal, Rio de Janeiro) -ɛʃtɐ
• Hyphenation: tes‧ta

From Old Galician-Portuguese testa, from Latin testa.

testa f (plural testas)

1. forehead (part of the face above the eyebrows and below the hairline)

• → Ambonese Malay: testa
• → Manado Malay: testa

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

testa

1. inflection of testar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “testa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “testa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “testa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French tester.

• IPA^(key): /teˈsta/

a testa (third-person singular present testează, past participle testat) 1st conjugation

1. (transitive) to test; to try

   Synonym: încerca

• “testa”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

From Latin testa (“pot”).

testa f (plural testas)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) head

In Rumantsch Grischun, the literary standard language, testa is used in the figurative sense, and chau in the anatomical sense. Usage differs somewhat, however, between dialects.

• (Rumantsch Grischun) chau
• (Sursilvan) tgau
• (Sutsilvan) tgieu
• (Surmiran) tgea
• (Puter) cho
• (Vallader) cheu

From Latin testa (“earthen pot”).

• IPA^(key): /t̪ʲɛs(ʃ)ta/
• Hyphenation: te‧sta

testa f (plural testi)

1. (anatomy) head
2. intelligent person
3. intelligence

• IPA^(key): /ˈtesta/ [ˈt̪es.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -esta
• Syllabification: tes‧ta

From Latin testa. Compare the inherited Old Spanish tiesta.

testa f (plural testas)

1. head
2. test (shell or endoskeleton of an echinoderm or certain plankton)

• testa coronada
• testa de ferro, testaferro

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

testa

1. inflection of testar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “testa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• Audio:

  (file)

testa (present testar, preterite testade, supine testat, imperative testa)

1. to try, to attempt; (to see if a specific action is possible; also to see if a device works properly)

• “testa”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

• etsat, ettas, satte, setat