'Trial' traces to Latin 'terere' (to thresh) — via Old French 'trier' (to sort). Testing by friction.
A formal judicial examination of evidence and determination of legal claims in a court of law.
From Anglo-Norman 'trial' (the act of trying or testing), derived from the verb 'trier' (to try, to sort, to pick out), from Old French 'trier.' The Old French verb likely comes from Late Latin '*tritāre' (to sort grain by threshing), from Latin 'trītus,' past participle of 'terere' (to rub, to wear away, to thresh). The legal sense — a judicial examination to determine guilt or innocence — developed in English courts
The concept of 'trial by ordeal' — where the accused was subjected to fire, water, or combat and God was expected to reveal the truth — was the dominant form of trial in early medieval England. The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 banned clergy from participating in ordeals, effectively forcing English courts to develop the jury trial system.