test act

noun

any law requiring a person to belong to the established church of a country as a condition for holding public office.
(initial capital letters)English History. 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to the Crown, receive the sacraments of the Church of England, and reject the doctrine of transubstantiation: repealed in 1828.

Origin of test act

First recorded in 1700–10

Words Nearby test act

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use test act in a sentence

He that did not conform was deprived of more civil privileges than a nonconformist is deprived of by the test act in England.
The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2 | Egerton Ryerson
James dispensed with the law by prerogative and appointed Romanists to offices in defiance of the test act.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4 | Various
On the passing of the test act in 1681 he refused to take the required oath except with a reservation.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2 | Various
I thought, therefore, that your theory pointed directly to a renewal of the test act.
Chapter of Autobiography | W E Gladstone
Few measures have ever brought about more startling results than the test act.
History of the English People, Volume VI (of 8) | John Richard Green

British Dictionary definitions for 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under the Crown, such as army officers, to take the Anglican Communion and perform other acts forbidden to a Catholic: repealed in 1828

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

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