intestate

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“
He died very suddenly--intestate, as it seems the habit of these Haygarths to die; and he had never made any adjustment of his affairs.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Having made no legal will: an intestate parent.
  2. adjective Not disposed of by a legal will: intestate lands.
  3. noun One who dies without a legal will.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • As he died intestate, his fortune was divided between his surviving sisters, Katherine Bailer and Joanna Fortescue. —  Life And Letters Of John Gay (1685-1732)
  • Galileo, he surmised, was wise enough to read between the lines and understand what had to be done A PATRON DIES AND A FRIEND IS IN TROUBLE At the beginning of August 1630, Galileo received a blow when he learned that Prince Cesi had died at the age of 45, intestate, and with his finances in a sorry state. —  Galileo in Rome
  • His father had deceased intestate, and, in virtue of the laws then in force, the whole extensive inheritance of his father's lands descended to him, to the exclusion of his brothers and sisters. —  The First White Man of the West
  • He was presumed to have died intestate, and his fortune was divided, three-quarters of it going to his brother Auguste, the remaining quarter to his sister, Mme. —  A Book of Remarkable Criminals
  • It appeared that Old Jimmy had died intestate, his niece succeeding. —  Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French intestat, from Latin intestātus : in-, not; see in-1 + testātus, testate, from past participle of testārī, to make a will; see testament.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French intestat = Spanish Portuguese intestado = Italian intestato, from Latin intestatus, having made no will, from in- privative + testatus, having made a will, past participle of testari, make a will: see test, testament. Cf. intestable.
 

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/ɪnˈtɛsteɪt/
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