Trial vs. Test — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on October 29, 2023
A "Trial" typically refers to a process of testing the quality, performance, or reliability of something, especially before it's generalized or widely accepted, while a "Test" is a procedure to ascertain the quality, performance.
Difference Between Trial and Test
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Key Differences
Trial often alludes to a period of testing or probation to see if something will succeed or fail. For instance, many products might undergo a trial phase before full market release. This ensures they meet certain standards or requirements. Conversely, a Test is often a more structured and specific evaluation, usually with predetermined parameters or criteria. For instance, students take tests to determine their knowledge on a subject.
In legal contexts, a Trial is a formal examination of evidence before a judge, and typically a jury, to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings. A Test, in this context, wouldn’t directly apply. However, one might "test" evidence or "test" a witness's statement for validity.
In the realm of scientific research, a Trial usually refers to the testing of medicines or treatments to evaluate their efficacy and safety. It's a process where participants receive specific interventions according to the research plan. On the other hand, a Test in scientific contexts might refer to any procedure undertaken to determine a specific property or characteristic of an object or material.
From a colloquial perspective, facing a Trial often means facing a challenging situation or period in one’s life, a kind of personal test. Meanwhile, a Test in a similar vernacular context can refer to any situation or event that assesses a person's abilities, qualities, or endurance.
Though both Trial and Test revolve around evaluation, trial leans more towards experimental or probationary testing, often over a period, while test is typically a more immediate and structured assessment.
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Comparison Chart
Context
Probationary or experimental
Structured assessment
Legal
Examination of evidence in court
Doesn't directly apply
Scientific
Testing medicines/treatments for efficacy and safety
Procedure to determine specific property or character
Duration
Can be prolonged
Typically more immediate
Colloquial Meaning
Facing a challenging situation/period
An event assessing abilities, qualities, or endurance
Compare with Definitions
Trial
A process of testing quality or reliability.
The new software is in its trial phase.
Test
A procedure assessing performance or quality.
She passed the test with flying colors.
Trial
A formal examination of evidence in court.
He awaited his trial for the alleged crime.
Test
Measure of a particular characteristic or property.
The soil test indicated high acidity.
Trial
An act of trying out or attempting something.
She gave the new job a trial before deciding.
Test
An examination of software, a system, or a device.
The beta test for the game had a few glitches.
Trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court.
Test
A procedure for critical evaluation; a means of determining the presence, quality, or truth of something; a trial
A test of one's eyesight.
Subjecting a hypothesis to a test.
A test of an athlete's endurance.
Trial
A formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings
The editor was summoned to stand trial for libel
The newspaper accounts of the trial
Test
A series of questions, problems, or physical responses designed to determine knowledge, intelligence, or ability.
Trial
A test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something
Clinical trials must establish whether the new hip replacements are working
Test
A basis for evaluation or judgment
"A test of democratic government is how Congress and the president work together" (Haynes Johnson).
Trial
A person, experience, or situation that tests a person's endurance or forbearance
The trials and tribulations of married life
Test
(Chemistry) A physical or chemical change by which a substance may be detected or its properties ascertained.
Trial
Test (something, especially a new product) to assess its suitability or performance
Teachers all over the UK are trialling the materials
Test
A cupel.
Trial
(of a horse, dog, or other animal) compete in trials
The pup trialled on Saturday
Test
A hard external covering, as that of certain amoebas, dinoflagellates, and sea urchins.
Trial
A proceeding in which opposing parties in a dispute present evidence and make arguments on the application of the law before a judge or jury
The case is expected to go to trial.
Test
To subject to a test; try
Tested the pen by scribbling on scrap paper.
Testing job applicants.
Trial
An instance of such a proceeding
The trial of Socrates.
Test
To reveal the degree of (a given quality) in someone or something by or as if by means of a test
The experiment tested the rats' ability to solve spatial problems. The long war tested the country's resolve.
Trial
The act or process of testing, trying, or putting to the proof
A trial of one's faith.
Test
To identify the presence or amount of one or more substances in
Tested the water for lead.
Trial
An instance of such testing, especially as part of a series of tests or experiments
A clinical trial of a drug.
Test
To identify the amount of (a substance) in something
Tested the nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil.
Trial
An effort or attempt
Succeeded on the third trial.
Test
To ascertain the properties of
Tested the steel for hardness and tensile strength.
Trial
A state of pain or anguish that tests patience, endurance, or belief
"the fiery trial through which we pass" (Abraham Lincoln).
Test
To assay (metal) in a cupel.
Trial
A trying, troublesome, or annoying person or thing
The child was a trial to his parents.
Test
To undergo a test.
Trial
A preliminary competition or test to determine qualifications, as in a sport.
Test
To administer a test
Test for acid content.
Test for the presence of an antibody.
Trial
Of, relating to, or used in a trial.
Test
To achieve a score or rating on tests
Tested high on the entrance exams.
Trial
Attempted or advanced on a provisional or experimental basis
A married couple on a trial separation.
Test
To exhibit a given characteristic when subjected to a test
Test positive for the tubercle bacillus.
Trial
Made or done in the course of a trial or test.
Test
A challenge, trial.
Trial
An opportunity to test something out; a test.
They will perform the trials for the new equipment next week.
Test
A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement.
Trial
Appearance at judicial court in order to be examined.
Test
(academia) An examination, given often during the academic term.
Trial
A difficult or annoying experience, such an experience seen as a test of faith and piety
That boy was a trial to his parents.
Test
A session in which a product, piece of equipment, or system is examined under everyday or extreme conditions to evaluate its durability, etc.
Trial
A tryout to pick members of a team.
Soccer trials
Test
A Test match.
Trial
(ceramics) A piece of ware used to test the heat of a kiln.
Test
(marine biology) The external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm, e.g. sand dollars and sea urchins.
Trial
(UK) An internal examination set by Eton College.
Test
(botany) Testa; seed coat.
Trial
Pertaining to a trial or test.
Test
(obsolete) Judgment; distinction; discrimination.
Trial
Attempted on a provisional or experimental basis.
Test
(obsolete) A witness.
Trial
Characterized by having three (usually equivalent) components.
Test
Testosterone
Trial
Triple.
Test
To challenge.
Climbing the mountain tested our stamina.
Trial
(grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to three of something, like people; contrast singular, dual and plural. (See Ambai language for an example.)
No language has a trial number unless it has a dual.
Test
To refine (gold, silver, etc.) in a test or cupel; to subject to cupellation.
Trial
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.
Test
To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or quality of by experiment, or by some principle or standard; to try.
To test the soundness of a principle
To test the validity of an argument
Trial
To try out (a new player) in a sports team.
The team trialled a new young goalkeeper in Saturday's match, with mixed results.
Test
(academics) To administer or assign an examination, often given during the academic term, to (somebody).
Trial
The act of trying or testing in any manner.
Test
To place a product or piece of equipment under everyday and/or extreme conditions and examine it for its durability, etc.
Trial
Any effort or exertion of strength for the purpose of ascertaining what can be done or effected.
[I] defy thee to the trial of mortal fight.
Test
(copulative) To be shown to be by test.
He tested positive for cancer.
Trial
The state of being tried or tempted; exposure to suffering that tests strength, patience, faith, or the like; affliction or temptation that exercises and proves the graces or virtues of men.
Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings.
Test
(chemistry) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent.
To test a solution by litmus paper
Trial
The act of testing by experience; proof; test.
Repeated trials of the issues and events of actions.
Test
To attest (a document) legally, and date it.
Trial
That which tries or afflicts; that which harasses; that which tries the character or principles; that which tempts to evil; as, his child's conduct was a sore trial.
Every station is exposed to some trials.
Test
To make a testament, or will.
Trial
Examination by a test; experiment, as in chemistry, metallurgy, etc.
Test
A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement.
Our ingots, tests, and many mo.
Trial
The formal examination of the matter in issue in a cause before a competent tribunal; the mode of determining a question of fact in a court of law; the examination, in legal form, of the facts in issue in a cause pending before a competent tribunal, for the purpose of determining such issue.
Test
Examination or trial by the cupel; hence, any critical examination or decisive trial; as, to put a man's assertions to a test.
Trial
(law) legal proceedings consisting of the judicial examination of issues by a competent tribunal;
Most of these complaints are settled before they go to trial
Test
Means of trial; as, absence is a test of love.
Each test every light her muse will bear.
Trial
The act of testing something;
In the experimental trials the amount of carbon was measured separately
He called each flip of the coin a new trial
Test
That with which anything is compared for proof of its genuineness; a touchstone; a standard.
Life, force, and beauty must to all impart,At once the source, and end, and test of art.
Trial
(sports) a preliminary competition to determine qualifications;
The trials for the semifinals began yesterday
Test
Discriminative characteristic; standard of judgment; ground of admission or exclusion.
Our test excludes your tribe from benefit.
Trial
(law) the determination of a person's innocence or guilt by due process of law;
He had a fair trial and the jury found him guilty
Test
Judgment; distinction; discrimination.
Who would excel, when few can make a testBetwixt indifferent writing and the best?
Trial
Trying something to find out about it;
A sample for ten days free trial
A trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain
Test
A reaction employed to recognize or distinguish any particular substance or constituent of a compound, as the production of some characteristic precipitate; also, the reagent employed to produce such reaction; thus, the ordinary test for sulphuric acid is the production of a white insoluble precipitate of barium sulphate by means of some soluble barium salt.
Trial
An annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event;
His mother-in-law's visits were a great trial for him
Life is full of tribulations
A visitation of the plague
Test
A set of questions to be answered or problems to be solved, used as a means to measure a person's knowledge, aptitude, skill, intelligence, etc.; in school settings, synonymous with examination or exam; as, an intelligence test. Also used attributively; as a test score, test results.
I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commediation.
Thy virtue, prince, has stood the test of fortune,Like purest gold, that tortured in the furnace,Comes out more bright, and brings forth all its weight.
Trial
The act of undergoing testing;
He survived the great test of battle
Candidates must compete in a trial of skill
Test
A witness.
Prelates and great lords of England, who were for the more surety tests of that deed.
Trial
A test of performance, qualities, or suitability.
The trial of the new equipment went smoothly.
Test
The external hard or firm covering of many invertebrate animals.
Trial
A challenging situation or period faced.
She faced many trials during her journey.
Test
The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or spermoderm.
Test
To refine, as gold or silver, in a test, or cupel; to subject to cupellation.
Test
To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or quality of by experiment, or by some principle or standard; to try; as, to test the soundness of a principle; to test the validity of an argument.
Experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution.
Test
To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent; as, to test a solution by litmus paper.
Test
To administer a test to (someone) for the purpose of ascertaining a person's knowledge or skill; especially, in academic settings, to determine how well a student has learned the subject matter of a course of instruction.
Test
To make a testament, or will.
Test
Any standardized procedure for measuring sensitivity or memory or intelligence or aptitude or personality etc;
The test was standardized on a large sample of students
Test
The act of testing something;
In the experimental trials the amount of carbon was measured separately
He called each flip of the coin a new trial
Test
The act of undergoing testing;
He survived the great test of battle
Candidates must compete in a trial of skill
Test
Trying something to find out about it;
A sample for ten days free trial
A trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain
Test
A set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge;
When the test was stolen the professor had to make a new set of questions
Test
A hard outer covering as of some amoebas and sea urchins
Test
Put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to;
This approach has been tried with good results
Test this recipe
Test
Test or examine for the presence of disease or infection;
Screen the blood for the HIV virus
Test
Examine someone's knowledge of something;
The teacher tests us every week
We got quizzed on French irregular verbs
Test
Show a certain characteristic when tested;
He tested positive for HIV
Test
Achieve a certain score or rating on a test;
She tested high on the LSAT and was admitted to all the good law schools
Test
Determine the presence or properties of (a substance)
Test
Undergo a test;
She doesn't test well
Test
A series of questions, tasks, or practical activities.
The driving test was nerve-wracking.
Test
An event or situation that reveals the strength or quality of someone.
The marathon was a real test of his endurance.
Common Curiosities
Can "trial" and "test" be used interchangeably?
In some contexts, yes, but not always. A legal trial is different from a test.
Is a "clinical trial" the same as a "test"?
A clinical trial is a type of test, but not all tests are clinical trials.
Why might someone say they’re "on trial" at a new job?
It implies they're in a probationary period where their performance is being evaluated.
What's a "test case" in software?
It's a specific condition or scenario to evaluate a program's behavior.
Is a "test subject" the same as a "trial participant"?
In many research contexts, they can mean the same, but "trial participant" is more specific to clinical trials.
How do "trial" and "test" differ in duration?
A trial can be prolonged, indicating a period of evaluation, while a test is typically more immediate.
Are there different types of legal trials?
Yes, including criminal, civil, and bench trials, among others.
Is a "trial run" the same as a "test run"?
They are similar, but a "trial run" often implies a longer, more probationary period, whereas a "test run" might be more immediate and brief.
Is "test tube" related to "test"?
Yes, it's a glass tube used in labs for tests and experiments.
How do "test" and "exam" differ?
They're similar, but an exam is often longer and covers broader material, while a test might assess specific knowledge or skills.
Can a product be both in "trial" and "test"?
Yes, a product can undergo trials (longer evaluations) and specific tests (structured assessments).
Can both "trial" and "test" imply challenges?
Yes, both can refer to challenging situations or events that assess abilities or endurance.
Are "test" scores always numerical?
No, test results can also be qualitative, not just quantitative.
What does "trial by fire" mean?
It's a test of one's abilities in a challenging situation, especially when new to it.
What does it mean to "stand the test of time"?
It means to last or remain popular for a long time.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
