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; 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

It would therefore place itself in the "armchair" of the testator and consider the circumstances that surrounded them when they made their will, to assist arriving at their intention.

From BBC • Aug. 22, 2013

The wording of a will can also be problematic as words and terms have specific meanings in law, which may be different to their use by the testator in their will.

From BBC • Aug. 22, 2013

With it the testator was associated from 1865 until last spring, when he died.

From Time Magazine Archive

Other convents are mentioned once only and in some cases a testator leaves legacies to nuns by name, without mentioning where they are professed.

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen

The first written in Rooke's hand and duly witnessed, was a very short will, signed by the testator, Walter Longcluse, and leaving his enormous wealth absolutely to David Arden.

From Checkmate by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan