| Tester | n. [ OE. testere a headpiece, helmet, OF. testiere, F. têtière a head covering, fr. OF. teste the head, F. tête, fr. L. testa an earthen pot, the skull. See Test a cupel, and cf. Testière. ] 1. A headpiece; a helmet. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] The shields bright, testers, and trappures. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. A flat canopy, as over a pulpit or tomb. Oxf. Gross. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. A canopy over a bed, supported by the bedposts. [ 1913 Webster ] No testers to the bed, and the saddles and portmanteaus heaped on me to keep off the cold. Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Tester | n. [ For testern, teston, fr. F. teston, fr. OF. teste the head, the head of the king being impressed upon the coin. See Tester a covering, and cf. Testone, Testoon. ] An old French silver coin, originally of the value of about eighteen pence, subsequently reduced to ninepence, and later to sixpence, sterling. Hence, in modern English slang, a sixpence; -- often contracted to tizzy. Called also teston. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] |
