nuncupative, a. (and n.)
(ˈnʌnkjuːpeɪtɪv, nʌnˈkjuːpətɪv)
[ad. late and med.L. nuncupātīv-us: see nuncupate v. and -ive. So F. nuncupatif (1354); It., Sp., and Pg. nuncupativo.]
1. Of wills: Oral, not written.
After med.L. testamentum nuncupativum (Du Cange).
| 1546 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 50 John Oxennarde of Bramley made his nuncupatyve will before Ric. Pullen, sen{supr}. 1590 Swinburne Testaments 23 The appointing of an executor, (without the which there can be no testament at all, neither written nor nuncupatiue). 1634 C. Downing State Eccl. Kingd. 51 By the Nuncupative will of his sacred predecessour, who then adopted him. 1651 G. W. tr. Cowell's Inst. 118 Lands cannot be given by a Nuncupative will. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 142 This Cancelling..is suppos'd to be extended to those Testaments Nuncupative, that are afterwards reduced to Writing. 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 473 Probation by witnesses is admitted to the extent of L. 100 Scots, in payments, nuncupative legacies, and verbal agreements. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 60 It is not sufficient that it be put into writing after his death, being first declared by words only; for then it is but a nuncupative will. 1883 American VI. 270 Soldiers and sailors, however, when on service may make nuncupative wills. |
| transf. 1660 Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. ii. iii. rule 14 §32 Nuncupative records are like diagrams in sand, and figures efformed in air. |
† b. n. An oral decree.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 367 As in Nuncupatives the irrevocable Decrees and Commands of the Emperor stand firm, so his Determinations in the Written Law are as Authentick. |
† 2. Nominal; so-called.
Obs. rare.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 39 b, He determined rather to retourne with his assured gaine then to tary the nuncupative dukes..uncerteine victory. a 1670 Hacket Cent. Serm. (1675) 101 The princes of the people are Nuncupative Gods in Scripture. |
3. Denoting nuncupation; designative.
rare.
| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. vi. §2 (1622) 41 That nuncupatiue tittle, wherewith both Heathens and Christians haue honoured their Oathes. 1817 G. S. Faber Eight Dissert. (1845) II. 275 We may..anticipate, among the Pelasgi also, a similar nuncupative reference to the same ancient city of Nimrod. 1828 Middleton Grk. Article 43 Nouns preceded by Verbs or Participles Substantive or Nuncupative. |
Hence
nuncupatively adv.| 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ vi. 312 The Idols of the Gentiles were called Gods, nuncupatively or ironically. 1767 tr. Voltaire's Ignorant Philosopher xxiii. 46 He [God] exists essentially, participatively and nuncupatively. |