trial
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English trial, triall, from Anglo-Norman trial, triel, from trier (“to pick out, cull”) -al. More at English try.
Noun
[edit]trial (plural trials)
- An occasion on which a person or thing is tested to find out how well they perform or how suitable they are.
- Synonym: test
- c. 1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest[1], Act IV, Scene 1:
- all thy vexations / Were but my trials of thy love and thou / Hast strangely stood the test here
- 1847, Anne Brontë, chapter 3, in Agnes Grey[2], London: Thomas Cautley Newby, page 51:
- had my powers been less limited, I might have enforced obedience; but as it was, it was but a trial of strength between her and me, in which she generally came off victorious
- 2010, Nadifa Mohamed, Black Mamba Boy[3], Harper Collins, page 65:
- Jama saw the sweaty, smelly work as a kind of test that, if passed, would entitle him to see his father, a trial of his worth as a son and as a man.
- The testing of a product or procedure.
- They will perform the trials for the new equipment next week.
- (medicine, sciences, research) A research study to test the effectiveness and safety of a drug, medical procedure, etc.
- Synonym: clinical trial
- A randomized, controlled trial (RCT).
- An event in which athletes’ or animals’ abilities are tested as they compete for a place on a team, or to move on to the next level of a championship, for example.
- soccer trials; sheepdog trials
- (ceramics) A piece of ware used to test the heat of a kiln.
- (UK) An internal examination set by Eton College.
- (archaic) An occasion on which armies or individuals meet in combat.
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1[4], Act V, Scene 1:
- In both your armies there is many a soul / Shall pay full dearly for this encounter, / If once they join in trial.
- A meeting or series of meetings in a court of law at which evidence is presented to a judge (and sometimes a jury) to allow them to decide on a legal matter (especially whether an accused person is guilty of a crime).
- Synonym: court case
- If you are convicted at trial, you have the right to file an appeal.
- He was charged with war crimes and brought to trial before the International Tribunal.
- The journalists have been held in custody for three years without trial.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
- as she hath / Been publicly accused, so shall she have / A just and open trial
- 1847, Henry Wadworth Longfellow, Evangeline[5], Boston: Ticknor, Part 3, p. 42:
- She, after form of trial condemned to die on the scaffold, / Patiently met her doom at the foot of the statue of Justice.
- 1960, Harper Lee, chapter 20, in To Kill a Mockingbird[6], Philadelphia: Lippincott, page 215:
- […] this case should never have come to trial.
- 2020, Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown, New York: Pantheon, Act VI,
- Your Honor, we object to all of this. The whole thing. This mock trial. The entire justice system is rigged against my client.
- A difficult or annoying experience or person; (especially religion) such an experience seen as a test of faith and piety.
- That boy was a trial to his parents.
- 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress[7], London: Nath. Ponder, page 172:
- That they are Cowards, many have said, but few have found it so in the time of Trial.
- 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter 5, in Frankenstein[8], volume 1, London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, page 120:
- Poor Justine was very ill; but other trials were reserved for her.
- 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 12, in Anne of Green Gable[9], Toronto: Ryerson Press, page 108:
- I’m afraid I’m going to be a dreadful trial to you. Maybe you’d better send me back to the asylum.
- 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 4, in The Return of the King[10], New York: Ballantine Books, published 1973, page 98:
- […] I’m not used […] to waiting hungry on others while they eat. It is a sore trial for a hobbit, that.
- 2008, Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain[11], New York: Weinstein Books, Book 2, Chapter 13, p. 365:
- You must be strong now, for your greatest trials are still ahead.
- (archaic) The action of trying (to do) something, especially more than once. (This sense is still current in the expression trial and error.)
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe[12], London: W. Taylor, page 123:
- Finding my first Seed did not grow, which I easily imagin’d was by the Drought, I sought for a moister Piece of Ground to make another Trial in,
- 1839, Charles Dickens, chapter 28, in Oliver Twist[13], volume 2, London: Richard Bentley, page 144:
- He summoned up all his strength for one last trial, and bent his faltering steps towards [the house].
- 1913, Willa Cather, chapter 1, in O Pioneers![14], Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 18:
- After a dozen trials he succeeded in lighting the lantern,
- 1950, Rachel Carson, chapter 1, in The Sea Around Us[15], New York: Oxford University Press, published 1961, page 7:
- Before the first living cell was created, there may have been many trials and failures.
Derived terms
[edit]- bench trial
- civil trial
- clinical trial
- counter-trial
- fair trial
- field trial
- free trial
- jury trial
- monkey trial
- on trial
- on trial for one's life
- pre-trial
- sea trial
- show trial
- time trial
- trial balance
- trial-balloon
- trial by jury
- trial by media
- trial by ordeal
- trial court
- trial de novo
- trial division
- trial number
- trial of scar
- trial of void
- trial run
- under-trial
Translations
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Adjective
[edit]trial (not comparable)
- Pertaining to a trial or test.
- Attempted on a provisional or experimental basis.
Translations
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Verb
[edit]trial (third-person singular simple present trials, present participle (UK) trialling or (US) trialing, simple past and past participle (UK) trialled or (US) trialed)
- (transitive) To carry out a series of tests on (a new product, procedure etc.) before marketing or implementing it.
- The warning system was extensively trialed before being fitted to all our vehicles.
- 2020 April 22, “Network News: Bombardier resumes work at Derby Litchurch Lane”, in Rail, page 9:
- In the week beginning April 6, the company began trialling the new processes - these include greater spacing, split shifts, additional safety requirements and washing facilities.
- (transitive) To try out (a new player) in a sports team.
- The team trialled a new young goalkeeper in Saturday's match, with mixed results.
Derived terms
[edit]- bench trial
- civil trial
- clinical trial
- counter-trial
- fair trial
- field trial
- free trial
- intertrial
- intratrial
- jury trial
- make trial of
- megatrial
- midtrial
- minitrial
- mistrial
- nontrial
- on trial
- posttrial
- pretrial
- put on trial
- retrial
- sea trial
- show trial
- stand trial
- subtrial
- time trial
- trialable
- trial and error
- trial balance
- trial balloon
- trial by combat
- trial by fire
- trial by jury
- trial by media
- trial by ordeal
- trial court
- trial de novo
- trial division
- trial impression
- trialist
- trialler
- trialless
- trial of void
- trial run
- trials and tribulations
- trial separation
- trialware
- undertrial
- untrialled
Translations
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Etymology 2
[edit]From Latin tri- (stem of trēs (“three”)) -al, on the pattern of dual.
Adjective
[edit]trial (not comparable)
- Characterized by having three (usually equivalent) components.
- Triple.
- (grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to three of something, like people. (See Ambai language for an example.)
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Noun
[edit]trial (plural trials)
- (grammar) The trial number.
See also
[edit]- (grammatical numbers) grammatical number; singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, paucal, plural (Category: en:Grammar)
Anagrams
[edit]Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: tri‧al
Noun
[edit]trial m (plural trials, diminutive trialtje n)
- Cross with small but sturdy and very versatile motorcycles, cars or bicycles
Italian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English trial.
Noun
[edit]trial m (invariable)
Anagrams
[edit]Old French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]trier (“to try such as in a court of law”) -al.
Noun
[edit]trial oblique singular, m (oblique plural triaus or triax or trials, nominative singular triaus or triax or trials, nominative plural trial)
- trial (legal procedure)
Usage notes
[edit]- due to lack of attestation, the precise meaning is uncertain
Descendants
[edit]- → English: trial
References
[edit]- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (trial)
- trial on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
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