testator

American  

[tes-tey-ter, te-stey-ter] / ˈtɛs teɪ tər, tɛˈsteɪ tər /

noun

Law.

1. a person who makes a will.

2. a person who has died leaving a valid will.

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testator British  

/ tɛˈsteɪtrɪks, tɛˈsteɪtə /

noun

1. a person who makes a will, esp one who dies testate

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Etymology

Origin of testator

1275–1325; < Latin testātor; see testate, -tor; replacing Middle English testatour < Anglo-French

Explanation

When you make your last will and testament, you are the testator, and if the will is written and witnessed according to the law of the land, your estate will be divided in the way you, the testator, requested. The noun testator comes from the Latin verb testari, meaning “make a will,” “be witness,” or “declare.” Perhaps your aunt, as testator of her will, indicated that she wanted you to inherit her collection of garden statuettes to keep her daughter from “smashing them to bits and heaving them in the dump.”

Example Sentences

The Testator, one Ralph Neville, was the son of a distinguished judge.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mr. Testator was beginning to stammer that he was not aware—when the visitor slipped past him, into the chambers. 

From The Uncommercial Traveller by Dickens, Charles

He could not place the Heir or Co-heirs in that very relation in which the Testator had himself stood to his own rights and obligations.

From Ancient Law Its Connection to the History of Early Society by Maine, Henry Sumner, Sir

Mr. Testator had intended to say, ‘a little quiet conversation,’ but with great relief of mind adopted the amendment. 

From The Uncommercial Traveller by Dickens, Charles

The Edictal Law would therefore enforce the dispositions of a Testator, when, instead of being symbolised through the forms of mancipation, they were simply evidenced by the seals of seven witnesses.

From Ancient Law Its Connection to the History of Early Society by Maine, Henry Sumner, Sir