Test (?), Tes"ta (?), n.; pl. E. Tests (#), L. Testae (#). [L. testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of earthenware, a shell. See Test a cupel.]
1. Zool.
The external hard or firm covering of many invertebrate animals.
The test of crustaceans and insects is composed largely of chitin; in mollusks it is composed chiefly of calcium carbonate, and is called the shell.
2. Bot.
The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or spermoderm.
© Webster 1913.