Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) The act of proving; a period of time during which one's character or fitness is tested. 2. (n.) Any proceeding designed to ascertain truth, to determine character, qualification, etc.; examination; trial; as, to engage a person on probation. 3. (n.) The novitiate which a person must pass in a convent, to probe his or her virtue and ability to bear the severities of the rule. 4. (n.) The trial of a ministerial candidate's qualifications prior to his ordination, or to his settlement as a pastor. 5. (n.) Moral trial; the state of man in the present life, in which he has the opportunity of proving his character, and becoming qualified for a happier state. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia PROBATION, SECOND pro-ba'-shun, sek'-und. See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.