probate

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

probate
    n 1: a judicial certificate saying that a will is genuine and
         conferring on the executors the power to administer the
         estate [syn: {probate}, {probate will}]
    2: the act of proving that an instrument purporting to be a will
       was signed and executed in accord with legal requirements
    v 1: put a convicted person on probation by suspending his
         sentence
    2: establish the legal validity of (wills and other documents)

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Probate \Pro"bate\, v. t.
   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.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Probate \Pro"bate\, n. [From L. probatus, p. p. of probare to
   prove. See {Prove}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Proof. [Obs.] --Skelton.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
          [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Probate \Pro"bate\, a.
   Of or belonging to a probate, or court of probate; as, a
   probate record.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Probate Court}, or {Court of Probate}, a court for the
      probate of wills.

   {Probate duty}, a government tax on property passing by will.
      [Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

35 Moby Thesaurus words for "probate":
      affirm, attest, attested copy, authenticate, back, back up,
      bear out, bequeathal, bequest, bolster, buttress, certify,
      circumstantiate, codicil, confirm, corroborate, devise, document,
      fortify, inheritance, legacy, prove, ratify, reinforce, strengthen,
      substantiate, support, sustain, testament, undergird, uphold,
      validate, verify, warrant, will