noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/tɛs.təˈmɛn.tiː ˈfak.ti.əʊ/
/ˌtɛs.təˈmɛn.taɪ ˈfak.ʃi.əʊ/
/ˌtɛs.təˈmɛn.taɪ ˈfak.ʃəʊ/
1
noun
Meaning 1
The legal capacity to participate in a testamentum (will), be it as a testator, a heres (heir), or a signator (witness).
The legal capacity to compose a testamentum as a testator, available to any Roman citizen sui juris who had attained puberty (i.e. males of fourteen years or older and females of twelve years or older).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Roman, uncountable
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: testamenti factio activa
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The legal capacity to participate in a testamentum (will), be it as a testator, a heres (heir), or a signator (witness).
The legal capacity to receive a legatum (bequest) as a heres, unavailable to unenlisted peregrini (foreigners and Roman free provincial subjects) or, following the Lex Junia Norbana of AD 19, to Latini Juniani (freedmen whose manumissions had failed to satisfy the conditions of the Lex Aelia Sentia of AD 4).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Roman, uncountable
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: testamenti factio passiva
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The legal capacity to participate in a testamentum (will), be it as a testator, a heres (heir), or a signator (witness).
The legal capacity to witness a testamentum as a signator, unavailable to women.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Roman, uncountable
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The legal capacity to make a will (under Scots law, anyone may be a beneficiary under a testator’s settlement).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Qualifier: Scots law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Latin testāmentī factiō (“right of participating in a will”).
