test act

noun

1. any law requiring a person to belong to the established church of a country as a condition for holding public office.
2. (initial capital letters) English History. the statute (1673) requiring all military officers and public officials to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, receive the sacraments of the Church of England, and reject the doctrine of transubstantiation: repealed in 1828.

Test Act

noun

1. a law passed in 1673 in England to exclude Catholics from public life by requiring all persons holding offices under the Crown, such as army officers, to take the Anglican Communion and perform other acts forbidden to a Catholic: repealed in 1828

Word History and Origins

Origin of test act¹

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

Last month, Cruz introduced the Right to Test Act, which would let states approve and distribute diagnostic tests to meet state testing needs when the state or federal government has declared a public health emergency.

From Fox News

Some advocates for a litmus test act as if Democrats just wanted gun control a little more, it would happen.

From The Guardian

"We looked at a number of different options to accommodate the students who were, through no fault of their own, impacted by the compromised test," ACT vice president for strategic growth markets Bryan Maach said in a statement.

From Reuters

Before the next campaign, the Test Act had been passed, by which Roman Catholics were prevented from holding any office under the Crown.

From Project Gutenberg

His speech against the stamp act, the taxation of the colonies, the American war, the test act, the suspension of the habeas corpus, the treason and sedition bills, the slave trade; and in favor of Parliamentary reform, religious toleration, Catholic emancipation, the rights of juries, and of peace, contain volumes of liberal principles which endear his name to the friends of humanity in both hemispheres.

From Project Gutenberg