Emily Dickinson Lexicon

NUN-CU'PA-TIVE, or NUN-CU'PA-TO-RY, a. [It. nuncupativo; Fr. nuncupatif; from L. nuncupo, to declare.]

1. Nominal; existing only in name. Encyc.
2. Publicly or solemnly declaratory. Fotherby.
3. Verbal, not written. A nuncupative will or testament is one which is made by the verbal declaration of the testator, and depends merely on oral testimony for proof, though afterward reduced to writing. Blackstone.