Etymologically
Log in

proof

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pruːf/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English preove, later prōf,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman preove, Old French proeve, prueve “proof, test, experience” (modern French preuve),[4][2] from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), a back-formation from probāre (“to test, prove”).[4][2] The change of vowel from preve to prof in late Middle English was due to the influence of the verb prove,[3][5][6] and the change of v to f followed the loss of final e, as in belief beside believe.[4] It is a doublet of probe.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which proves a statement; evidence: about 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,[4][2] before 1225 in the OED.[7]

Semantic evolution

“The act of proving” is from the early 14th century, and “the act of testing” from the late 14th century, under the influence of the verb.[4] In the proof of the pudding is in the eating (1708), proof is in the sense “test”;[8][4] the proof is in the pudding (1915) is a curious perversion of it.[4] The typographical trial impression is from about 1600,[4] the standard strength of distilled liquor from 1705, from the notion of having been tested,[4][8] and a coin struck to test a die from 1762.[4] The adjective, “of tested strength”, first of armour, is from 1592, in Shakespeare's proof against,[2][7] probably by ellipsis of the preposition in armour of proof.[3][9] It forms compounds such as fireproof (before 1638), waterproof (1736), bulletproof (1824) and soundproof (1884).[2] The verb “to test” is from 1834,[4][7] “to make impervious” from 1885,[7] and “to proofread” from 1950.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – evidence.[4][2]
  • early 14th century – the act of proving.[4]
  • c. 1600 – a printer's proof.[4]
  • 1592 – adjective, proof against.[2][7]
  • 1705 – the strength of spirits.[4]
  • 1708 – the proof of the pudding.[4]
  • 1834 – verb, to test.[4][7]
  • 1950 – to proofread.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The evidence or argument that compels acceptance of something as true.
  2. In mathematics and logic, a demonstration of the validity of a proposition.
  3. The act of testing; a trial.
  4. A trial print, as of type, for correction.
  5. The alcoholic strength of a liquor relative to a standard.

Adjective

  1. Able to resist; impervious, often in compounds: waterproof.
  2. Of standard alcoholic strength.
  3. Used in proving or testing.

Verb

  1. To make a proof of; to proofread.
  2. To make resistant: to proof a fabric.
  3. To activate yeast or make dough rise.

Word family

  • proofer
  • -proof
  • high-proof
  • actor-proof
  • airproof
  • bombproof
  • bulletproof
  • burglarproof
  • probe
  • prove
  • probate
  • probation
  • approve
  • reprove
  • probable

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 d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press