PROBATE

Pro″bate (?), n. [[From L. probatus, p. p. of probare to prove. See Prove.]] 1. 1. Proof. Skelton.
2. 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.