PROBA'TION, n. [L. probatio.] The act of proving; proof. 1. Trial; examination; any proceeding designed to ascertain truth; in universities, the examination of a student, as to his qualifications for a degree.2. In a monastic sense, trial or the year of novitiate,which a person must pass in a convent, to prove his virtue and his ability to bear the severities of the rule.3. Moral trial; the state of man in the present life, in which he has the opportunity of proving his character and being qualified for a happier state. Probation will end with the present life.4. In America, the trial of a clergyman's qualifications as a minister of the gospel, preparatory to his settlement. We say, a man is preaching on probation.5. In general, trial for proof, or satisfactory evidence, or the time of trial.
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