In the legal sense of someone who dies without making a valid will.
From Latin ab intenstato, meaning 'from intestacy' or 'without a will.' The prefix ab- means 'from' and intestatus means 'without a will,' combining to describe the legal condition when someone dies intestate.
This legal term reveals how the law treated intestacy in medieval times—not as a simple oversight but as a specific legal state requiring special procedures, showing how important wills were to inheritance rights.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.