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testa

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word testa

testa1 bequeath, make a will

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1861
Borrowed from
French tester
Ultimate origin
Latin testis
Etymology tree of testa1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin testis
Latin testor
Romanian testa
From the same root · testa1
Latin testiculus ← testis
Latin testificor ← testis
Latin testimōnium ← testis
Spanish testimonio ← testis
Latin antestor ← testor
Latin attestor ← testor
Latin contestor ← testor
Latin dētestor ← testor
Latin intestabilis ← testor
Latin obtestor ← testor
Latin prōtestor ← testor
Latin testāmentum ← testor
Latin testātiō ← testor
Latin testātus ← testor

Pronunciation

Forms

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

Etymology

The word for bequeathing is borrowed from French tester (“to make a will”), and also borrowed from Latin testor (“to bear witness; to make a will”).[2][3][4][5] The French verb was borrowed from the Latin about 1290, and the sense “to dispose of one's goods by will” is the one that lasted, from 1406; the Latin verb comes from testis (“witness”).[6] Romanian testament belongs to the same family.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a text of 1861 that MDA2 and the Academy dictionary cite as FM, where a ruler bequeathed his kingdom to his daughter after his death.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Pontbriant's dictionary of 1862 still gives the Latin sense “to bear witness, to attest”, and the Academy dictionary records a Latinism “to make known, to show” from 1874.[7][5] The legal sense won: Damé marks it as a law term.[8] A native synonym was testălui.[3]

Timeline

  • 1861 – the first record, in a text cited as FM.[3]
  • 1862 – Pontbriant gives “to bear witness, attest”.[7]
  • 1874 – the Latinism “to make known”.[5]
  • 1875 – Antonescu glosses it French “tester, faire un testament”.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To bequeath, to leave something by will.[2][3]
  2. (intransitive) To make a will.[3][10]
  3. (obsolete Latinism) To make known, to show.[3]

testa2 test, put to a test

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
French tester

Pronunciation

Forms

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

Etymology

The word for testing is borrowed from French tester (“to test”), the verb of test.[2][3][11][1] Romanian took the noun test from French and English.[2]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were technical: in psychology, to put someone through a test, and in medicine, to examine by a skin test.[3][5] In general use it now means “to try out”.[3][1]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To test: to put someone through a test; to carry out a test.[2][1]
  2. (medicine) To examine by a skin test.[3]
  3. (by extension) To try out, to experiment.[3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1122
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1209
  4. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. testa
  5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. testa
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. tester
  7. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 735
  8. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. testa
  9. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 312
  10. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. testa
  11. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. testa

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Testa.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/testa. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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