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• test act
  test act

  noun

  any law requiring a person to belong to the established church of a country as a condition for holding public office.
• Test Act
  Test Act

  noun

  a law passed in 1673 in England to exclude Catholics from public life by requiring all persons holding offices under the Crown, such as army officers, to take the Anglican Communion and perform other acts forbidden to a Catholic: repealed in 1828

test act

American  

noun

1. any law requiring a person to belong to the established church of a country as a condition for holding public office.

2. (initial capital letters) the statute (1673) requiring all military officers and public officials to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, receive the sacraments of the Church of England, and reject the doctrine of transubstantiation: repealed in 1828.

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Test Act British  

noun

1. a law passed in 1673 in England to exclude Catholics from public life by requiring all persons holding offices under the Crown, such as army officers, to take the Anglican Communion and perform other acts forbidden to a Catholic: repealed in 1828

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Etymology

Origin of test act

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

test act Test Act

The only test act that science knows is that of the recognition of truth.

From History of Human Society by Frank W. (Frank Wilson) Blackmar

A motion to relieve the Scottish presbyterians from the obligation of the test act was lost by a large majority, and a motion for the relief of unitarians, which must be noticed later, also failed.

From The Political History of England - Vol. X. The History of England from the Accession of George III to the close of Pitt's first Administration by Reginald Lane Poole

He supports the Test Act and, while opposing the Indulgence, is not hostile to the repeal of the penal laws against the Roman Catholics by parliament.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7 "Gyantse" to "Hallel" by Various

Yearly bills of indemnity exempted the Nonconformists from the consequences of their infringement of the Test Act.

From History of the English People, Volume VII The Revolution, 1683-1760; Modern England, 1760-1767 by John Richard Green

But the wish of the liberal Whigs to modify if not to repeal the Test Act remained unsatisfied.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various

He advised Charles in March 1673 to submit the legality of the declaration of indulgence to the House of Lords, and supported the Test Act of the same year, which compelled Clifford to resign.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5 "Arculf" to "Armour, Philip" by Various

The Test Act excluded them from 543 office.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various