Etymologically
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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

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