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testament |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Nuncupative \Nun*cu"pa*tive\, a. [L. nuncupativus nominal: cf F. nuncupatif.] 1. Publicly or solemnly declaratory. [Obs.] 2. Nominal; existing only in name [Obs.] 3. Oral; not written. {Nuncupative will} or {testament}, a will or testament made by word of mouth only, before witnesses, as by a soldier or seaman, and depending on oral testimony for proof. --Blackstone. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Testament \Tes"ta*ment\, n. [F., fr L. testamentum fr testari to be a witness, to make one's last will akin to testis a witness. Cf {Intestate}, {Testify}.] 1. (Law) A solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his will as to disposal of his estate and effects after his death. Note: This is otherwise called a will and sometimes a last will and testament. A testament, to be valid, must be made by a person of sound mind; and it must be executed and published in due form of law. A man, in certain cases, may make a valid will by word of mouth only. See {Nuncupative will}, under {Nuncupative}. 2. One of the two distinct revelations of God's purposes toward man; a covenant; also one of the two general divisions of the canonical books of the sacred Scriptures, in which the covenants are respectively revealed; as the Old Testament; the New Testament; -- often limited, in colloquial language, to the latter. He is the mediator of the new testament . . . for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament. --Heb. ix 15. {Holographic testament}, a testament written wholly by the testator himself. --Bouvier. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: testament n 1: a profession of belief; "he stated his political testament" 2: a legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die [syn: {will}] 3: strong evidence for something "his easy victory was a testament to his skill" 4: either of the two main parts of the Christian Bible [syn: {Testament}] From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Testament occurs twelve times in the New Testament (Heb. 9:15, etc.) as the rendering of the Gr diatheke which is twenty times rendered covenant" in the Authorized Version, and always so in the Revised Version. The Vulgate translates incorrectly by testamentum whence the names Old" and "New Testament," by which we now designate the two sections into which the Bible is divided. (See {BIBLE}.)
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