Tĕs'ta-ment, n.
[Fr. testament, Pr. testament, testamen, It., Sp., & Pg., testamento, Lat. testamentum, from testari, to be a witness, to make one's last will, from testis, a witness.]
Sense 1. (Law.) A solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his will as to the 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 words only, and such will is called nuncupative. See NUNCUPATIVE.
Sense 2. One of the two general divisions of the canonical books of the sacred Scriptures; as, the Old Testament; the New Testament; — often limited, in colloquial language, to the latter.
Holographic testament, a testament written wholly by the testator himself. Bouvier.