'test-taker' originates from Modern English, specifically the compound of the noun 'test' (from Old French 'test', ultimately from Latin 'testum') and the agentive form 'taker' (from the verb 'take' + suffix '-er'), where 'testum' meant 'earthen pot' and 'take' (Old Norse 'taka') meant 'to take'.

'test' changed from Latin 'testum' to Old French 'test' and was adopted into Middle English as 'test'; 'take' came from Old Norse 'taka' into Old English and Middle English forms; the compound 'test-taker' was formed in Modern English by combining 'test' + 'taker'.

Initially, 'test' referred to a physical vessel ('testum') and then to 'trial' or 'assay'; over time the compound 'test-taker' came to mean 'a person who takes an examination'.