'test-oriented' originates from Modern English, specifically as a compound of 'test' and the adjective-forming element '-oriented'. 'test' ultimately comes from Old French 'test' (from Latin 'testa') where 'testa' meant 'earthen pot' (later extended to 'trial'/'assay'), and 'orient' (in '-oriented') comes from French 'orienter' / Latin 'orientare' where the root 'ori-' meant 'to rise' or 'east'.

'test' changed from Old French 'test' (originally 'earthen pot') and developed senses of 'trial' and 'assay' before being used in English for examinations; 'orienter' entered English via French/Medieval Latin as 'orient' and produced the participial/adjectival suffix '-oriented', and the compound 'test-oriented' arose in Modern English to mean 'directed toward tests'.

Initially, 'test' referred to a physical pot or to the idea of a trial, and 'orient' referred to facing or directing; over time the compound came to mean 'directed toward or organized around tests', i.e., 'focused on testing'.