Etymologically
Log in

approve

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈpɹuːv/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English approven, apreven, borrowed from Old French aprover (“to approve, agree to”),[2][3][4][5] from Latin approbāre (“to assent to as good”),[2][3] from ad-, to, and probāre, to test (see prove), from probus, honest, good.[2][5] The Middle English form apreven came from a stressed stem of the Old French verb and later died out.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To demonstrate, prove: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline; 1340 in the OED; now obsolete.[3][2][6]

Semantic evolution

NODE traces the development from prove, demonstrate, to corroborate, confirm, and hence to pronounce satisfactory.[7] To confirm or commend is from about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius,[3][6] and by the late 14th century it also meant to sanction or endorse formally, especially of authorities and parliaments.[2] Approval is from 1690, rare before the 19th century.[3][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to prove.[3]
  • c. 1380 – to confirm, commend.[3]
  • late 14th century – to sanction.[2]
  • 1690 – approval.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To think or speak well of; to consider good or right.
  2. To agree to formally; to authorize or sanction.
  3. (obsolete) To prove or demonstrate.

Word family

  • approvable
  • approvingly
  • approvedly
  • approvedness
  • disapprove
  • preapprove
  • reapprove
  • approval
  • approbation
  • prove
  • probe
  • reprove

Usage notes

MWU records a separate approve from Middle French aprouer, to cause to profit.[4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press