prove

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pruːv/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English proven, also pruven and preven,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French prover (“to show, convince, put to the test”),^[3][2] from Latin probāre (“to test, prove worthy, demonstrate”),^[3][2][4] from probus (“worthy, good, upright”),^[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *pro-bhwo- (“being in front”),^[3] formed from *pro- and *bhu- (“to be”), the root of be.^[3][2][5] Old English had borrowed the Latin word earlier as prōfian.^[4] It is related to probe, proof and probable.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To try by experience or by a test: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] and about 1200 in Etymonline and the OED.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

“To make certain, put beyond doubt” and to establish the validity of a will are from the early 13th century.^[3][4] “To turn out to be” after a trial is by the late 14th century.^[3] In Middle English the word had many more senses, including “to experience”, “to strive”, “to thrive” and “to approve, praise”, now obsolete.^[3] The old sense “to test” survives in the exception proves the rule and in proving ground, a place for testing weapons, by 1837.^[3][7] In arithmetic, to check a calculation is from 1806.^[6] Of dough, to rise before baking, is a later technical sense.^[7][8] The past participle proven is a Scottish form from about 1536.^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – to test, try.^[3][6]
• early 13th century – to establish beyond doubt.^[3]
• late 14th century – to turn out to be.^[3]
• c. 1536 – the form proven.^[6]
• 1806 – to check a calculation.^[6]
• 1837 – proving ground.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To show to be true by argument or evidence.
2. To turn out to be: the rumour proved false.
3. To establish the authenticity of a will.
4. To test or try out; to show one's ability: to prove oneself.
5. Of dough, to rise before baking.

Word family

• provability
• provable
• provably
• prover
• provableness
• provenly
• unproving
• overprove

Related words

• approve
• probe
• probity
• proof
• probable
• probation
• improve
• be

Usage notes

Proved is the older past participle, and proven is a Scottish variant that spread through legal use, as in the verdict not proven; both are now well established in writing.^[7]

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster