approval

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈpruː.vəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English approve + -al.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of approving, sanction: 1613 in MWU and the early 17th century in the Shorter Oxford,^[5][3] the 1680s in Etymonline and 1690 in the OED.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

According to the OED, quoted by Etymonline, it was rare before 1800 and then replaced the older approvance, which is attested by the 1590s and came from French.^[2] On approval, of goods sent to a customer to be returned if not wanted, is from 1870.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1613 – first known use.^[5]
• 1690 – the action of approving.^[6]
• 1870 – on approval.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The feeling that someone or something is good or right; praise.
2. Official permission or agreement; sanction.
3. on approval: of goods, to be returned if the buyer does not want them.

Word family

• disapproval
• nonapproval
• preapproval
• reapproval

Related words

• approve
• approbation
• prove

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press