probate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a judicial certificate saying that a will is genuine and conferring on the executors the power to administer the estate
    probate will.
  2. noun the act of proving that an instrument purporting to be a will was signed and executed in accord with legal requirements
  3. verb put a convicted person on probation by suspending his sentence
  4. verb establish the legal validity of (wills and other documents)

WordNet

Pro"bate noun
Etymology
From L. probatus, p. p. of probare to prove. See Prove.
Definitions
  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.
Pro"bate adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or belonging to a probate, or court of probate; as, a probate record.
Pro"bate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. 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.

Webster 1913