Testament
Testament , noun
[French, from Latin testamentum, from testari to be a witness, to make one's last will, akin to testis a witness. Compare 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.
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.
Collocations (1)
Holographic testament , a testament written wholly by the testator himself. — Bouvier