Probate

n. [Lat. probatus, p. p. of probare, to prove.]

1. Proof. [Obs.] Shelton.
2. (Law.) (a.) Official proof; especially, the proof before a competent officer or tribunal that an instrument offered, purporting to be the last will and testament of a person deceased, is indeed his lawful act; the copy of a will proved, under the seal of the Court of Probate, delivered to the executors with a certificate of its having been proved. Bouvier. Burrill. (b.) The right or jurisdiction of proving wills.