n. (Fort.) A small intrenchment or work of palisades, or of sacks of earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature.
Syn. -- witness. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. attestatio: cf. F. attestation. ] The act of attesting; testimony; witness; a solemn or official declaration, verbal or written, in support of a fact; evidence. The truth appears from the attestation of witnesses, or of the proper officer. The subscription of a name to a writing as a witness, is an attestation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of the nature of attestation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. contestable. ] Capable of being contested; debatable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. contestant. ] One who contests; an opponent; a litigant; a disputant; one who claims that which has been awarded to another. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. contestatio testimony: cf. F. contestation a contesting. ] 1. The act of contesting; emulation; rivalry; strife; dispute. “Loverlike contestation.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

After years spent in domestic, unsociable contestations, she found means to withdraw. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Proof by witness; attestation; testimony. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A solemn contestation ratified on the part of God. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Capacity of being odious. [ R. ] Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. detestabilis: cf. F. détestable. ] Worthy of being detested; abominable; extremely hateful; very odious; deserving abhorrence; as, detestable vices. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast defiled my sanctuary will all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations. Ezek. v. 11.

Syn. -- Abominable; odious; execrable; abhorred. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being detestable. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a detestable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To detest. [ Obs. ] Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. detestatio: cf. F. détestation. ] The act of detesting; extreme hatred or dislike; abhorrence; loathing. [ 1913 Webster ]

We are heartily agreed in our detestation of civil war. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being incontestable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. in- not + contestable: cf. F. incontestable. ] Not contestable; not to be disputed; that cannot be called in question or controverted; incontrovertible; indisputable; as, incontestable evidence, truth, or facts. Locke.

Syn. -- Incontrovertible; indisputable; irrefragable; undeniable; unquestionable; intuitable; certain.

-- In`con*test"a*ble*ness, n. -- In`con*test"a*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. intestabilis: cf. F. intestable. See In- not, and Testable. ] (Law) Not capable of making a will; not legally qualified or competent to make a testament. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Intestate. ] The state of being intestate, or of dying without having made a valid will. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. intestatus; pref. in- not + testatus, p. p. of testari to make a will: cf. F. intestat. See Testament. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Without having made a valid will; without a will; as, to die intestate. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Airy succeeders of intestate joys. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not devised or bequeathed; not disposed of by will; as, an intestate estate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) A person who dies without making a valid will. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. obtestatio. ] The act of obtesting; supplication; protestation. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Antonio asserted this with great obtestation. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chief ruler; a potentate. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. “An irous potestate.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. potestativus, fr. potestas power: cf. F. potestatif. See Potent. ] Authoritative. [ Obs. ] Bp. Pearson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Protestantism. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. protestant, fr. L. protestans, -antis, p. pr. of protestare. See Protest, v. ] One who protests; -- originally applied to those who adhered to Luther, and protested against, or made a solemn declaration of dissent from, a decree of the Emperor Charles V. and the Diet of Spires, in 1529, against the Reformers, and appealed to a general council; -- now used in a popular sense to designate any Christian who does not belong to the Roman Catholic or the Greek Church. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. protestant. ] 1. Making a protest; protesting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to the faith and practice of those Christians who reject the authority of the Roman Catholic Church; as, Protestant writers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Protestant. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. protestantisme. ] The quality or state of being protestant, especially against the Roman Catholic Church; the principles or religion of the Protestants. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Like a Protestant; in conformity with Protestantism. [ R. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. protestatio: cf. F. protestation. See Protest. ] 1. The act of making a protest; a public avowal; a solemn declaration, especially of dissent. “ The protestation of our faith.” Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Formerly, a declaration in common-law pleading, by which the party interposes an oblique allegation or denial of some fact, protesting that it does or does not exist, and at the same time avoiding a direct affirmation or denial. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. protestateur. ] One who makes protestation; a protester. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n.; pl. E. Tests L. Testae [ L. testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of earthenware, a shell. See Test a cupel. ] 1. (Zool.) The external hard or firm covering of many invertebrate animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The test of crustaceans and insects is composed largely of chitin; in mollusks it is composed chiefly of calcium carbonate, and is called the shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or spermoderm. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Testament. ] 1. Capable of being tested or proved. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of being devised, or given by will. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. testaceum a shelled anumal. See Testaceous. ] (Zool.) Invertebrate animals covered with shells, especially mollusks; shellfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Onr of the Testacea. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Testacea + -graphy: cf. F. testacéographie. ] The science which treats of testaceans, or shellfish; the description of shellfish. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Testacea + -logy: cf. F. testacéologie. ] The science of testaceous mollusks; conchology. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. testaceus, fr. testa a shell. See Testa. ] 1. Of or pertaining to shells; consisted of a hard shell, or having a hard shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot. & Zool.) Having a dull red brick color or a brownish yellow color. [ 1913 Webster ]

Testaceous animals (Zool.), animals having a firm, calcareous shell, as oysters and clams, thus distinguished from crustaceous animals, whose shells are more thin and soft, and consist of several joints, or articulations, as lobsters and crabs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Testate. ] (Law) The state or circumstance of being testate, or of leaving a valid will, or testament, at death. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

He is the mediator of the new testament . . . for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament. Heb. ix. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

Holographic testament, a testament written wholly by the testator himself. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. testamentalis. ] Of or pertaining to a testament; testamentary. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy testamental cup I take,
And thus remember thee. J. Montgomery. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. testamentarius: cf. F. testamentaire. ] 1. Of or pertaining to a will, or testament; as, letters testamentary. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bequeathed by will; given by testament. [ 1913 Webster ]

How many testamentary charities have been defeated by the negligence or fraud of executors! Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Done, appointed by, or founded on, a testament, or will; as, a testamentary guardian of a minor, who may be appointed by the will of a father to act in that capacity until the child becomes of age. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or power of giving by testament, or will. [ R. ] Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make a will. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., we testify, fr. testari to testify. ] (Eng. Universities) A certificate of merit or proficiency; -- so called from the Latin words, Ita testamur, with which it commences. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. testatus, p. p. of testari. See Testament. ] (Law) Having made and left a will; as, a person is said to die testate. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) One who leaves a valid will at death; a testate person. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. testatio. ] A witnessing or witness. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. testateur. ] (Law) A man who makes and leaves a will, or testament, at death. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] (Law) A woman who makes and leaves a will at death; a female testator. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Incontestable. [ 1913 Webster ]