PROBATE
Pro"bate, n. Etym: [From L. probatus, p. p. of probare to prove. See
Prove.]
1. Proof. [Obs.] Skelton.
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.
PROBATE
Pro"bate, a.
Defn: Of or belonging to a probate, or court of probate; as, a
probate record. Probate Court, or Court of Probate, a court for the
probate of wills.
— Probate duty, a government tax on property passing by will.
[Eng.]
PROBATE
Pro"bate v. t.
Defn: To obtain the official approval of, as of an instrument purporting to be the last will and testament; as, the executor has probated the will.
PROBATION Pro*ba"tion, n. Etym: [L. probatio, fr. probare to try, examine, prove: cf. F. probation. See Prove.]
1. The act of proving; also, that which proves anything; proof. [Obs.] When by miracle God dispensed great gifts to the laity, . . . he gave probation that he intended that all should prophesy and preach. Jer. Taylor.
2. Any proceeding designed to ascertain truth, to determine character, qualification, etc.; examination; trial; as, to engage a person on probation. Hence, specifically: (a) The novitiate which a person must pass in a convent, to probe his or her virtue and ability to bear the severities of the rule. (b) The trial of a ministerial candidate's qualifications prior to his ordination, or to his settlement as a pastor. (c) Moral trial; the state of man in the present life, in which he has the opportunity of proving his character, and becoming qualified for a happier state. No [view of human life] seems so reasonable as that which regards it as a state of probation. Paley.