Anat. Chiefly in pl. testes. [L.: etymology uncertain.
An assumed identity with testis witness (quasi ‘the witness or evidence of virility’) is rejected by Walde, who suggests connection with testa, pot, shell, etc. In 16th c. Fr., however, tesmoing ‘witness’ appears in this sense: see Godef. s.v.]
1. = TESTICLE. a. in man and mammals.
[1693. trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Testes viriles, Mens Testicles.]
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Testes, the Testicles of a Male.
c. 1720. Gibson, Farrier’s Guide, I. ii. (1738), 16. Next to the Yard, the Testes, or Stones properly take place.
1807–26. S. Cooper, First Lines Surg. (ed. 5), 495. The formation of such adhesions between the bowels and testis before birth, may also sometimes prevent … its descent.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 241. Two glandular structures, the testes.
b. in other animals.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 445. In Crabs, the mass of the testis is exceedingly large.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, Introd. 54. [In Birds] The testes are always retained within the abdomen anteriorly to the kidneys.
1877. Huxley, Anat. Inv. Anim., iv. 179. The testes and vasa deferentia generally have the form of two long tubes.
1888. Rolleston & Jackson, Anim. Life, 680. The testis [in Nematoda] is single; very rarely paired.
† c. transf. The ovary in females. Obs.
[1693. trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Testes Muliebres.]
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Testes,… the Organs of Seed in Men and Women.
1841. Ramsbotham, Obstetr. Med. (1855), 43. Previously to the time of Steno, who first asserted that they were analogous to true ovaria, they were called the female testes.
2. transf. pl. a. The posterior pair of the optic lobes or corpora quadrigemina, at the base of the brain in mammals.
1681. trans. Willis’ Rem. Med. Wks., Vocab., Testes, certain tubercles in the brain of a man and beasts, so called because like to the stones of a man.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Testes Cerebri, are the two lower and lesser Protuberances of the Brain.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VII. 345. The posterior tubercles or testes are connected by the posterior brachia with the corpora geniculata interna.
† b. The tonsils. Obs.
1776. J. Collier, Mus. Trav., 44 (Stanf.). There are other superfluities besides the testes and glands of the throat which obstruct the free course of the voice.
