Definition: Trial
Etymology 1
From Middle English trial, triall, from Anglo-Norman trial, triel, from trier (to pick out, cull) + -al.
Noun
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Soccer trials, sheepdog trials.
- (ceramics) A piece of ware used to test the heat of a kiln.
- The testing of a product or procedure.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
Derived terms
- bench trial
- civil trial
- clinical trial
- counter-trial
- fair trial
- field trial
- free trial
- jury trial
- mistrial
- on trial
- retrial
- time trial
- trial and error
- trial court
- trial run
Adjective
trial (not comparable)
- Pertaining to a trial or test.
- Attempted on a provisional or experimental basis.
Verb
trial (third-person singular simple present trials, present participle trialing, simple past and past participle 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.
- (transitive) To try out (a new player) in a sports team.
- The team trialed a new young goalkeeper in Saturday's match, with mixed results.
Etymology 2
From Latin tri- (stem of trēs (three)) + -al, on the pattern of dual.
Adjective
trial (not comparable)
- Characterized by having three (usually equivalent) components.
- Triple.
- (grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to three of something, like people.
- No language has a trial number unless it has a dual.
Derived terms
- triality
Noun
trial (plural trials)
- (grammar) The trial number; the language form referring to three of something.
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here:
