probate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English probat, also probeyt,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin probātum (“a thing proved”), the neuter past participle of probō (“to try, test, prove”) used as a noun;^{[5][2][6][7][4][8]} Etymonline describes it as a use of the Latin word in Medieval Latin legal language.^[6] The Latin verb is from probus (“good, proper, upright”).^[4] The verb probate is partly from the noun and partly from the stem of the Latin participle, and its sense "to put on probation" was formed after probation.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Proof, evidence: before 1400, in a Middle English secular lyric;^[5] Barnhart has the form probeyt before 1400.^[2] The legal sense, the official proving of a will, follows about 1439.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of proof or demonstration lasted until 1842, but survived only beside the legal one, which became the word's main use from the 15th century.^[5] A probate court, or simply probate, a court dealing with wills and the estates of people who die without one, is recorded from 1655.^[5] The verb meant "to prove" in 1570,^[5][10] a sense the Shorter Oxford dates to the late 15th century;^[9] the sense "to establish the validity of a will" appears in 1720,^[5] although Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1792,^[2][6] and it is now chiefly North American.^[5][11] In the United States, from 1910, the verb also meant to place an offender on probation.^[5][10] A short-lived adjective probate, proved or convinced, was used from about 1511 to 1621.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1400 – proof, evidence (obsolete by 1842).^[5][2]
• c. 1439 – the official proving of a will.^[5][2] Etymonline dates it to the mid 15th century.^[6]
• c. 1511 – adjective, proved, convinced (obsolete by 1621).^[5]
• 1570 – verb, to prove.^[5][10]
• 1655 – a court dealing with wills.^[5]
• 1720 – verb, to establish the validity of a will.^[5] Barnhart and Etymonline date this sense to 1792.^[2][6]
• 1910 – verb, in the United States, to place on probation.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The legal process of proving that a will is genuine and valid: The house cannot be sold until probate is granted.^[11][10][5]
2. The official certificate of a proved will, or the verified copy given to the executors.^[11][5][9]
3. In the United States, the matters handled by a probate court, or such a court.^[11][5]
4. (obsolete) proof, evidence.^[5][2]

Verb

1. (chiefly North American) To establish the validity of a will by probate.^[11][10][5]
2. (United States) To place a convicted offender on probation.^[10][5]

Word family

• probate court

Related words

• probe
• probation
• prove
• probable
• probity
• approve

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins