[orig. a. OF. tester to bequeath, ad. L. testārī to bear witness, give evidence, attest, make one’s will, f. testis witness; but in 3 app. from TESTE sb.2 2, and in 4 perh. aphetic from ATTEST.]
I. † 1. trans. To leave by will or testament, to bequeath. Sc. Obs. rare–1.
1491. Acta Dom. Conc. (1839), 208/1. He allegeit It wes testit gudis, & he Intromettit þarwt as executour.
2. intr. To make a will, execute a testament. (See also TESTING vbl. sb.1 1.) Obs. exc. Sc.
1582. N. T. (Rhem.), Heb. ix. 17. For a testament … is yet of no value, whiles he that tested, liueth.
1681. Stair, Inst. Law Scot., xxx. § 18. Persons … condemned of Infamy could not test.
1822. Scott, Pirate, vi. I will test upon it [Note, i.e. leave it in my will] at my death, and keep it for a purse-penny till that day comes.
1838. W. Bell, Dict. Law Scot., s.v. Testament, A wife has power to test without the consent of her husband.
1880. Muirhead, Ulpian, xxiii. § 10. [In Roman Law] Soldiers are allowed to test in any way they like.
II. 3. trans. Eng. Law. To date and sign the teste of a writ, etc. (see TESTE sb.2 2).
(The pa. pple. appears in Blackstone as teste’d, as if formed immediately on teste, but it is usually written and pronounced tested.)
1727. Asgill, Metam. Man, 249. His title … is tested and dated from the Death and Resurrection of Christ, as the Cause of it.
1745. Col. Rec. Pennsylv., IV. 775. A Commission Tested by me under the Great Seal of the Province.
1769. Blackstone, Comm., IV. xxi. 288. A warrant from the chief, or other, justice of the court of king’s bench extends all over the kingdom: and is teste’d, or dated, England.
1883. Wharton’s Law Lex., s.v., All writs … were formerly tested in the name of the Lord Chancellor if issuing from the Court of Chancery, or of the Lord Chief Justice if issuing from the Queen’s Bench, etc.
4. Sc. Law. To authenticate a deed or written instrument by a testing clause (TESTING vbl. sb.1 2) duly drawn up in statutory form and signed by witnesses.
1838. W. Bell, Dict. Law Scot., s.v. Testament, A testament … must be properly tested and signed before witnesses; but if it be in the testator’s own handwriting, witnesses are not required.
1911. T. Hunter, Lett. to Editor. The Scottish law requires writings (except those in re mercatoria) to be either holograph or tested.
