Tryout is a 20th-century American compound of the verb try (from Old French trier 'to pick out, sift', of uncertain origin) + the adverb out. The historical chain includes Old French trier. The quoted older sense, "to pick out, sift," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for tryout. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word tryout carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a test of the suitability of a performer, athlete, or product". Related English forms include try and trial. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.