trialist

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪəlɪst/

Etymology 1

From trial (“three”) +‎ -ist.

Noun

trialist (plural trialists)

1. An advocate of trialism, especially with reference to the proposed creation of a state comprising Austria, Hungary, and a Slavic region.

Adjective

trialist (not comparable)

1. Involving three elements; especially, pertaining to a potential state comprising Austria, Hungary, and a Slavic region.
   • 2012, Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers, Penguin, published 2013, page 84:

     Only if Bosnia-Herzegovina were fully annexed to the empire would it be possible eventually to incorporate it into the structure of a reformed trialist monarchy.

Etymology 2

From trial (“test; experiment; court proceedings”) +‎ -ist.

Noun

trialist (plural trialists)

1. (medicine) A person who takes part in a clinical trial, especially as a researcher.
   • 2001, LeRoy Walters and Tamar Joy Kahn (eds.), Bibliography of Bioethics, Washington, DC: Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Volume 27, p. 48,^[1]

     The balance of expertise and authority between research subjects and triallists is profoundly changed, raising questions about the limits of voluntarism and differing perspectives on risk—benefit analysis.

   • 2002, Mike Clarke, “The importance of The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register to people doing and interpreting randomised trials” in Lelia Duley and Barbara Farrell (eds.), Clinical Trials, London: BMJ Books, p. 30,^[2]

     Having completed their trial, the trialists should ensure that they discuss it in the context of a systematic review of related studies.

2. (business) A person who tries a product for the first time (as opposed to a regular purchaser); a person who participates in the trial of a new product.
   • 1986, John Philip Jones, chapter 5, in What’s in a Name? Advertising and the Concept of Brands‎^[3], Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, page 123:

     models of stationary market conditions slightly underestimate the amount of once-only purchasing by brand trialists

   • 1995, Louella Miles, Perfect Marketing, London: Arrow Business, Chapter 8, p. 56,^[4]

     90 per cent of profit is said to come from repeat purchasers and the rest from triallists

   • 2011, Adrian Slywotzky, Demand, New York: Business Plus, p. 223,^[5]

     [The groups] included the core audience—subscribers who attend numerous concerts every year for many years; trialists—first-time concertgoers who attend a single performance; the noncommitted—people who attend a couple of concerts in a given year […]

3. (sports, chiefly UK) An athlete who participates in a trial (competition to select players for a team); a person who enters a dog (especially a sheepdog) in a competition.
   • 1998, Bill Samuel, chapter 7, in Rugby: Body and Soul‎^[6], Edinburgh: Mainstream, page 88:

     The following Saturday morning, with other members of the committee, I was on the touchline observing the trialists in action. It was a very good trial, with plenty of exciting talent on view.

   • 1998, John Gordon, Three Sheep and a Dog, Auckland: Reed, Chapter 8, p. 107,^[7]

     Event I, the long head […] ends with the hold: sheep at a standstill in a 20-metre ring and held there, with the dog and triallist balanced on either side.

   • 2012, Robert Earnshaw, Earnie: My Life at Cardiff City, Bedlinog: Accent, Chapter 4, p. 22,^[8]

     A [Youth Training Scheme] place would be the first step on the ladder, a contract with the club which would see you move from triallist to employee, someone the club was willing to invest in.

4. (South Africa) A person standing trial in a court of law, especially one of a group of defendants in a high-profile case.
   • 1999, David Simon, “From Mandela to Mbeki”, in J. E. Spence, editor, After Mandela‎^[9], London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, page 94:

     his mediation efforts, even in Africa, have not always proved successful—perhaps most notably in negotiating Mobutu’s departure from the former Zaire, and with respect to the Ogoni triallists in Nigeria under Sani Abacha’s dictatorship

   • 2006, Christina Scott, Nelson Mandela: A Force for Freedom, New York: Gramercy Books, Chapter 5, p. 71,^[10]

     Mandela’s fellow treason trialist, the feisty Helen Joseph, was the first person to be placed under house arrest.

Alternative forms

• triallist

Derived terms

• time trialist