Saturdays are perfect days for appellation insights. Surprise, we’re talking about the history of the name of the SAT!
The SAT casts a long shadow in the lives of anyone considering, attending, or graduated from college. Even decades after commencement, some people still brag or fret about their scores. But the SAT we took decades ago isn’t the same one students take today; in fact, it doesn’t even have the same name!
The SAT was first administered in 1926. At that time, the exam was properly named the S.A.T., an acronym for Scholastic Aptitude Test:
acronym (noun) - a word or name created by combining the first letter or syllable of each word in a title, list, or phrase. e.g. TGIF
BREAKDOWN: ACRO- (highest) + -ONYM (name)scholastic (adj) - of or pertaining to schools, scholars, or formal education; of or relating to high school or secondary education
BREAKDOWN: SCHOL- (school, learning in leisure) + -ASTIC (pertaining to)aptitude (noun) - a natural or inherent ability, talent, or inclination; suitability
BREAKDOWN: APT- (fit, suitable) + -TUDE (state of)
After decades of debate about what “aptitude” really means, the letters of S.A.T. were declared to represent Scholastic Assessment Test in 1990:
assessment (noun) - the act, process, or result of measuring or making a judgment about something; an instrument used to evaluate the state or condition of learning
BREAKDOWN: A- (to) + SES- (to sit) + -MENT (act or state)
By 1993, any attempt to define the true purpose or scope of the exam seemed overly contentious, so the S.A.T. simply became the SAT (technically the SAT I: Reasoning Test , which is a story in itself) and remains so named today. SAT is officially a defunct acronym.
defunct (adj) - no longer existing or in use; inactive, extinct, or obsolete
BREAKDOWN: DE- (off) + FUNCT- (perform)
Interestingly, the PSAT is a partial acronym, standing for Preliminary—not Practice—SAT. (The NMSQT attached to the 11th grade exam stands for National Merit Scholarship Test.)
preliminary (adj) - an act, event, or phenomenon occurring before something of greater significance or scale
BREAKDOWN: PRE- (before) + LIM- (boundary) + EN- (made of) + -ARY (pertaining to)
The name may change from one era to the next but the SAT continues to serve an important higher ed entrance exam and evaluation of college readiness. The SAT also happens to be a great test of English vocabulary mastery!
“The SAT is not perfect. We all know smart, knowledgeable people who do badly on standardized tests. But neither is it useless. SAT scores do measure both specific knowledge and valuable thinking skills.” —Virginia Postrel
