testament

See also: Testament

English

Etymology

From Middle English testament, from Old French testament, from Latin testāmentum (“the publication of a will, a will, testament, in Late Latin one of the divisions of the Bible”), from testor (“to be a witness, testify, attest, make a will”), from testis (“one who attests, a witness”). Displaced native Old English ġecȳþnes.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛs.tə.mənt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈtes.tə.mənt/

Noun

testament (plural testaments)

1. (law) A solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his or her will as to disposal of his or her inheritance (estate and effects) after his or her death, benefiting specified heir(s).

   Synonyms: will, last will and testament, last will

2. One of the two parts to the scriptures of the Christian religion: the New Testament, considered by Christians to be a continuation of the Hebrew scriptures, and the Hebrew scriptures themselves, which they refer to as the Old Testament.
3. A tangible proof or tribute.

   Synonym: testimony

   The ancient aqueducts are a testament to the great engineering skill of the Roman Empire.

   His remarkable recovery is a testament to the doctor's skill.

   • 1976 August 28, Steven Blevins, “Ads and Beauty Contests”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 9, page 4:

     These ads are a sad testament to the paper's attitude toward gay men, and a disheartening indication of the direction GCN may be going.

   • 2015 August 12, Todd Leopold, “Return to the ‘City That Care Forgot’”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 2 January 2022:

     The phrase was, and remains, a double-edged sword: a testament to the hard-working and hard-living citizens of the Crescent City and an indicator of the “ah, whatever” shrug hanging over its corrupt politics, its ramshackle infrastructure and its belief that partying trumps all.

4. A credo, expression of conviction.

   The prime minister's speech was a glowing testament to the cabinet's undying commitment to the royal cause.

Derived terms

• Final Testament
• holographic testament
• New Testament
• Old Testament
• testamentary
• testamentation

Related terms

• intestate
• testate
• testator
• testify
• testimonial
• testimony

Translations

document containing a person's will

• Albanian: testament (sq) m
• Arabic: وَصِيَّة f (waṣiyya)
• Armenian: կտակ (hy) (ktak)
• Avar: васият (wasijat)
• Azerbaijani: vəsiyyət (az), vəsiyyətnamə
• Bashkir: васыят (wasıyat)
• Belarusian: запаве́т m (zapavjét), духо́ўніца f (duxównica), завяшча́нне n (zavjaščánnje), завяшча́ньне n (zavjaščánʹnje), нака́з m (nakáz), тэстама́нт m (testamánt)
• Bengali: অসিয়ত (bn) (ośiẏot), উইল (bn) (uil)
• Bulgarian: за́вещание (bg) n (záveštanie)
• Burmese: သေတမ်းစာ (my) (setam:ca)
• Catalan: testament (ca) m
• Chechen: весет (veset)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 平安紙 / 平安纸 (ping⁴ on¹ zi²), 遺囑 / 遗嘱 (wai⁴ zuk¹)

  Mandarin: 遺囑 / 遗嘱 (zh) (yízhǔ)

• Czech: závěť (cs) f, poslední vůle f
• Danish: testamente (da) n
• Dutch: testament (nl) n, laatste wilsbeschikking f
• Esperanto: testamento (eo)
• Estonian: testament (et)
• Faroese: testamenti n, arvaskjal n, arvabræv n
• Finnish: testamentti (fi), viimeinen tahto
• French: testament (fr) m
• Galician: testamento (gl) m
• Georgian: ანდერძი (anderʒi)
• German: Testament (de) n, Letzter Wille m
• Greek: διαθήκη (el) f (diathíki)

  Ancient Greek: διαθήκη f (diathḗkē)

• Gujarati: વસિયતનામું n (vasiyatnāmũ)
• Hebrew: צַוָּאָה / צוואה f (tsava'á)
• Hindi: वसीयत (hi) f (vasīyat)
• Hungarian: végrendelet (hu), testamentum (hu)
• Hunsrik: Testement n
• Icelandic: erfðaskrá (is) f
• Indonesian: wasiat (id)
• Irish: tiomna (ga) m, uacht (ga) f
• Italian: lascito (it) m, testamento (it) m
• Japanese: 遺書 (ja) (いしょ, isho), 遺言 (ja) (ゆいごん, yuigon, いごん, igon)
• Kazakh: өсиет (ösiyet), өсиетнама (ösiyetnama), өсиетхат (ösiyetxat)
• Khmer: មត្តកសាសន៍ (mattaʼkaʼsaah)
• Korean: 유서(遺書) (ko) (yuseo), 유언(遺言) (ko) (yueon)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: wesyet (ku)

• Kyrgyz: осуят (ky) (osuyat), керээзкат (kereezkat), керээз (kereez)
• Lao: ພິໄນກັມ (phi nai kam)
• Latin: testāmentum n
• Latvian: testaments m
• Lithuanian: testamentas m
• Luhya: ewill, ewili, luwasia
• Luxembourgish: Testament n
• Macedonian: завешта́ние n (zaveštánie), за́вет m (závet), тестаме́нт m (testamént)
• Malay: wasiat
• Manx: çhymney m
• Māori: wira
• Melanau:

  Central Melanau: wil

• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гэрээслэл (mn) (gereeslel)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: testament n

• Old English: ierfeġewrit n
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: وَصِیَّت (vasiyyat), وَصِیَّت‌نامِه (vasiyyat-nâme)

• Polish: testament (pl) m
• Portuguese: testamento (pt) m
• Romanian: testament (ro) n
• Russian: заве́т (ru) m (zavét), завеща́ние (ru) n (zaveščánije), нака́з (ru) m (nakáz)
• Scottish Gaelic: tiomnadh
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏порука f, теста̀мент m

  Latin: ȍporuka (sh) f, testàment (sh) m

• Slovak: testament m, závet m
• Slovene: oporoka (sl) f,
• Southern Altai: кереес (kerees)
• Spanish: testamento (es) m
• Swahili: wosia
• Swedish: testamente (sv) n
• Tagalog: hulimbilin, tipan
• Tajik: васият (vasiyat), васиятнома (vasiyatnoma)
• Tamil: உயில் (ta) (uyil)
• Tatar: васыять (tt) (wasıyät), васыятьнамә (wasıyätnamä)
• Telugu: వీలునామా (te) (vīlunāmā)
• Thai: พินัยกรรม (th) (pí-nai-gam)
• Turkish: kalıtyazı (tr), vasiyet (tr), vasiyetname (tr)
• Turkmen: wesýet, wesýetnama
• Ukrainian: запові́т m (zapovít), духівни́ця f (duxivnýcja), тестаме́нт (uk) m (testamént)
• Urdu: وَصِیَت (ur) f (vasiyat)
• Uyghur: ۋەسىيەت (wesiyet)
• Uzbek: vasiyat (uz), vasiyatnoma (uz)
• Vietnamese: di chúc (vi) (遺囑), chúc thư (vi) (囑書) (uncommon)
• Welsh: ewyllys (cy) f

part of the Bible

• Arabic: عَهْد m (ʕahd)
• Armenian: կտակարան (hy) (ktakaran)
• Azerbaijani: əhd (az)
• Belarusian: запаве́т m (zapavjét)
• Bulgarian: заве́т (bg) m (zavét)
• Catalan: testament (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 約書 / 约书 (joek³ syu¹)

  Mandarin: 約書 / 约书 (zh) (yuēshū)

• Czech: zákon (cs) m, testament (cs) m
• Danish: testamente (da)
• Dutch: testament (nl) n (often capitalized)
• Esperanto: testamento (eo)
• Finnish: testamentti (fi)
• French: testament (fr) m
• Georgian: აღთქმა (aɣtkma)
• German: Testament (de) n
• Gothic: 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 f (triggwa)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: διαθήκη f (diathḗkē)

• Gujarati: કરાર (gu) m (karār)
• Hungarian: testamentum (hu)
• Hunsrik: Testement n
• Indonesian: perjanjian (id)
• Irish: tiomna (ga) m
• Italian: testamento (it) m
• Japanese: 聖書 (ja) (せいしょ, seisho)
• Korean: 성서(聖書) (ko) (seongseo)
• Macedonian: за́вет m (závet)
• Māori: kawenata
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: testamente n

• Old English: ægesetnes f, cyþnes f
• Polish: testament (pl) m
• Portuguese: testamento (pt) m
• Romanian: testament (ro) n
• Russian: заве́т (ru) m (zavét)
• Scottish Gaelic: Tiomnadh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: за́вет m, за́вјет m

  Latin: závet (sh) m, závjet (sh) m

• Slovak: zákon (sk) m, testament m
• Slovene: zaveza f
• Spanish: testamento (es) m
• Swahili: agano (sw)
• Swedish: testament (sv) n
• Tagalog: tipan
• Thai: พันธสัญญา
• Ukrainian: заві́т m (zavít), запові́т m (zapovít)
• Urdu: عَہْد نامَہ m ('ahd nāma)

tangible proof or tribute

• Bulgarian: доказателство (bg) n (dokazatelstvo)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: osoitus (fi), (konkreettinen) todiste (tangible proof); kunnianosoitus (fi) (tribute)
• Portuguese: testemunho (pt) m, demonstração (pt) f

credo — see credo

Further reading

• “testament”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “testament”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Verb

testament (third-person singular simple present testaments, present participle testamenting, simple past and past participle testamented)

1. (intransitive) To make a will.
2. (transitive) To bequeath or leave by will.

Anagrams

• statement, tentmates, Amstetten

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin testāmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [təs.təˈme̞n]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [təs.təˈment]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [təs.təˈmen]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [tes.taˈment]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [tes.taˈmen]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

testament m (plural testaments)

1. testament
2. will (document)

Derived terms

• Antic Testament
• Nou Testament

Further reading

• “testament”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “testament”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “testament” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “testament”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Dutch

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Dutch testament, derived from Old French testament, derived from Latin testāmentum (“the publication of a will, a will, testament”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛs.taːˈmɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Hyphenation: tes‧ta‧ment

Noun

testament n (plural testamenten, diminutive testamentje n)

1. (law) testament (document containing a person's will)

   Synonym: laatste wilsbeschikking

2. (biblical) testament (part of the Bible)

Derived terms

• Nieuwe Testament n
• Oude Testament n
• testamentair (adjective)

Descendants

• Negerhollands: testament
• → Indonesian: testamen

References

• “testament” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

French

Etymology

From Old French testament, from Latin testāmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛs.ta.mɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

Noun

testament m (plural testaments)

1. (law) testament, last will
2. legacy

Derived terms

• Ancien Testament
• Nouveau Testament
• testamentaire

Further reading

• “testament”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Livonian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin testamentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtestɑˌment/, [ˈtesˑtɑˌmenˑtˑ]

Noun

testament

1. will (a legal document stating who is to receive a person's estate and assets after his/her death)
2. (Christianity) testament

Declension

Declension of testament (140)

	singular (ikšlu’g)	plural (pǟgiņlu’g)
nominative (nominatīv)	testament	testamentõd
genitive (genitīv)	testament	testamentõd
partitive (partitīv)	testamentõ	testamentidi
dative (datīv)	testamentõn	testamentõdõn
instrumental (instrumentāl)	testamentõks	testamentõdõks
illative (illatīv)	testamentõ	testamentiž
inessive (inesīv)	testamentõs	testamentis
elative (elatīv)	testamentõst	testamentist

References

• Tiit-Rein Viitso; Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), “testament”, in Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz [Livonian-Estonian-Latvian Dictionary]‎^[2] (in Estonian and Latvian), Tartu, Rīga: Tartu Ülikool, Latviešu valodas aģentūra

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• testamente

Etymology

From Latin testāmentum, via Old Norse testament.

Noun

testament n (definite singular testamentet, indefinite plural testament or testamenter, definite plural testamenta or testamentene)

1. (law) a will (and/or) testament

Related terms

• testamentere

References

• “testament” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• testamente

Etymology

From Latin testāmentum, via Old Norse testament.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛstɑˈmɛnt/

Noun

testament n (definite singular testamentet, indefinite plural testament, definite plural testamenta)

1. (law) a will, testament (declaration of disposal of inheritance)
2. (Christianity) a testament (one of the two parts of the Bible)

References

• “testament” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin testāmentum.

Noun

testament oblique singular, m (oblique plural testamenz or testamentz, nominative singular testamenz or testamentz, nominative plural testament)

1. testimony; statement

Descendants

• → English: testament
• French: testament

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /testaˈmɛŋt/

Noun

testament m

1. testament

Polish

testament

Alternative forms

• destamynt (Zagórze)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin testāmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛsˈta.mɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -amɛnt
• Syllabification: tes‧ta‧ment

Noun

testament m inan (diminutive testamencik, related adjective testamentowy or testamentalny or testamentarny)

1. testament, will (formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes)
2. legacy (artistic creation or spiritual message left behind after someone's death for future generations)

Declension

Declension of testament

	singular	plural
nominative	testament	testamenty
genitive	testamentu	testamentów
dative	testamentowi	testamentom
accusative	testament	testamenty
instrumental	testamentem	testamentami
locative	testamencie	testamentach
vocative	testamencie	testamenty

Derived terms

nouns

• testamentarz

Related terms

adverbs

• testamentalnie
• testamentarnie
• testamentowo

Further reading

• “testament”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “testament”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)
• testament in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Alternative forms

• тестамент (testament) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin testamentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tes.taˈment/
• Rhymes: -ent
• Hyphenation: tes‧ta‧ment

Noun

testament n (plural testamente)

1. will

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	testament	testamentul	testamente	testamentele
genitive-dative	testament	testamentului	testamente	testamentelor
vocative	testamentule		testamentelor

References

• “testament”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Latin testāmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /testǎment/

Noun

testàment m inan (Cyrillic spelling теста̀мент)

1. (law) the (last) will (legal document)

Declension

Declension of testament

	singular	plural
nominative	testament	testamenti
genitive	testamenta	testàmenātā
dative	testamentu	testamentima
accusative	testament	testamente
vocative	testamente	testamenti
locative	testamentu	testamentima
instrumental	testamentom	testamentima

Related terms

• ȍporuka (formal, Croatia)