testa

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 ]