trial

Etymology 1

From Middle English trial, triall, from Anglo-Norman trial, triel, from trier (“to pick out, cull”) + -al. More at English try.

noun

1. An occasion on which a person or thing is tested to find out how well they perform or how suitable they are.
   1. The testing of a product or procedure.
      They will perform the trials for the new equipment next week.
   2. (medicine, sciences, research) A research study to test the effectiveness and safety of a drug, medical procedure, etc.
      A randomized, controlled trial (RCT).
   3. 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, for example.
      soccer trials; sheepdog trials
   4. (ceramics) A piece of ware used to test the heat of a kiln.
   5. (UK) An internal examination set by Eton College.
   6. (archaic) An occasion on which armies or individuals meet in combat.
      c. 1597 William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act V, Scene 1, In both your armies there is many a soul / Shall pay full dearly for this encounter, / If once they join in trial.
2. 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.
   1847, Henry Wadworth Longfellow, Evangeline, Boston: Ticknor, Part 3, p. 42, She, after form of trial condemned to die on the scaffold, / Patiently met her doom at the foot of the statue of Justice.
   1960, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia: Lippincott, Chapter 20, p. 215, […] this case should never have come to trial.
   2020, Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown, New York: Pantheon, Act VI, Your Honor, we object to all of this. The whole thing. This mock trial. The entire justice system is rigged against my client.
3. 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.
   1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, London: Nath. Ponder, p. 172, That they are Cowards, many have said, but few have found it so in the time of Trial.
   1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, Volume 1, Chapter 5, p. 120, Poor Justine was very ill; but other trials were reserved for her.
   1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gable, Toronto: Ryerson Press, Chapter 12, p. 108, I’m afraid I’m going to be a dreadful trial to you. Maybe you’d better send me back to the asylum.
   1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, New York: Ballantine Books, 1973, Chapter 4, p. 98, […] I’m not used […] to waiting hungry on others while they eat. It is a sore trial for a hobbit, that.
   2008, Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain, New York: Weinstein Books, 2008, Book 2, Chapter 13, p. 365, You must be strong now, for your greatest trials are still ahead.
4. (archaic) The action of trying (to do) something, especially more than once. (This sense is still current in the expression trial and error.)
   1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, London: W. Taylor, p. 123, Finding my first Seed did not grow, which I easily imagin’d was by the Drought, I sought for a moister Piece of Ground to make another Trial in,
   1839, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, London: Richard Bentley, Volume 2, Chapter 28, p. 144, He summoned up all his strength for one last trial, and bent his faltering steps towards [the house].
   1913, Willa Cather, O Pioneers! Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Chapter 1, p. 18, After a dozen trials he succeeded in lighting the lantern,
   1950, Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us, New York: Oxford University Press, 1961, Chapter 1, p. 7, Before the first living cell was created, there may have been many trials and failures.

adj

1. Pertaining to a trial or test.
2. Attempted on a provisional or experimental basis.

verb

1. (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.
   In the week beginning April 6, the company began trialling the new processes - these include greater spacing, split shifts, additional safety requirements and washing facilities. April 22 2020, “Network News: Bombardier resumes work at Derby Litchurch Lane”, in Rail, page 9
2. (transitive) To try out (a new player) in a sports team.
   The team trialled 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.

adj

1. Characterized by having three (usually equivalent) components.
2. Triple.
3. (grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to three of something, like people. (See Ambai language for an example.)
   No language has a trial number unless it has a dual.

noun

1. (grammar) The trial number.