Intest

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Describing a person who has died without having made a valid will, so that the estate passes under the law of inheritance
2. Having left no legal will at death, leaving the property to be divided according to statute
3. Referring to someone who dies without a binding testament, or to the state of that person's estate

Etymology: "Intest" is a real English word, though an uncommon one. It is a verb meaning to give someone a legal right to property by will, formed in English from the adjective "intestate," meaning having made no valid will. Its root goes back to Latin "intestatus," from "in-" (not) and "testatus," the past participle of "testari," to make a will, which is also the source of "testament." Accordingly, the verb is best understood as the reverse of "testate" in the legal vocabulary: where a testator leaves a will, the person who dies intestate leaves none, and the verb describes the act of leaving property to someone in that situation. The verb is recorded only in specialised legal and dictionary usage, so most readers will meet it in the adjective form first.