testes large, ovoid, granular; length of left testis 11.0 mm.
testes of male will be found under fore end of pelvis and are white, in young bird, very small.
testes of three adult males measured 17, 19, and 22; of three females, none evidenced reproductive activity.
testes of mature individuals are pale yellow and slightly oblong.
testes sunt permulti in utramque partem, sed brevitatis causa familia contenti erimus una.
(plural testes), 1704, from Latin testis "testicle," usually regarded as a special application of testis "witness" (see testament), presumably because it "bears witness" to virility (cf. Greek parastates, literally "one that stands by;" and French slang témoins, literally "witnesses"). But Buck thinks Greek parastatai "testicles" has been wrongly associated with the legal sense of parastates "supporter, defender" and suggests instead parastatai in the sense of twin "supporting pillars, props of a mast," etc. Walde, meanwhile, suggests a connection between testis and testa "pot, shell, etc."
testis tes·tis (těs'tĭs)
n. pl. tes·tes (-tēz)
The male reproductive gland, the source of spermatozoa and the androgens, normally occurring paired in an external scrotum. Also called didymus, orchis.