WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Tes"ter
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. testere a headpiece, helmet, OF. testiere, F. t?ti?re a head covering, fr. OF. teste the head, F. t?te, fr. L. testa an earthen pot, the skull. See Test a cupel, and cf. Testi?re.]
Definition : 1. A headpiece; a helmet. [Obs.] The shields bright, testers, and trappures. Chaucer.

2. A flat canopy, as over a pulpit or tomb. Oxf. Gross.

3. A canopy over a bed, supported by the bedposts. No testers to the bed, and the saddles and portmanteaus heaped on me to keep off the cold. Walpole.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Tes"ter
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [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.]
Definition : Defn: 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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913