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obtest

[ob-test]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to invoke as witness.
  2. to supplicate earnestly; beseech.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to protest.
  2. to make supplication; beseech.
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Origin of obtest

1540–50; < Latin obtestārī, equivalent to ob- ob- + test(is) a witness + -ārī infinitive suffix
Related formsob·tes·ta·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for obtest

Historical Examples

  • Should we not obtest Heaven, and whatever justice there is yet on earth?

    Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke

    Edmund Burke

  • I obtest you, by all the torments of hell, that ye put not this offer away.

  • Oh, we obtest those 025broken window-panes whether it be not cruel to expose new furniture to such perils!

  • I obtest you by his own excellency, I obtest you by the joys of heaven, and the torments of hell, that you close with Him.

  • I obtest you by the glory of heaven, and by the crowns which believers put on His head, that ye slight not this offer.

British Dictionary definitions for obtest

obtest

verb rare
  1. (tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to beg (someone) earnestly
  2. (when tr, takes a clause as object; when intr, may be foll by with or against) to object; protest
  3. (tr) to call (a supernatural power) to witness
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Derived Formsobtestation, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Latin obtestārī to protest, from ob- to + testārī to bear or call as witness
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012