preuve

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pʁœv/^[1]

Forms

preuve f (plural preuves)^[1] Old French prueve (Wace), proeve, preuve (13th century, Assises de Jérusalem).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from prouver, made on the old stressed forms of the verb (“il prueve”),^[5][3][6][7] the verb being inherited from Latin probō (“to test; to approve; to prove”).^[8] Littré and Wiktionary also compare a noun Late Latin proba (“trial”).^[4][1]

Cognate with Italian prova, Old Occitan prova, Catalan proba and Spanish prueba.^[8][4][9] The Anglo-Norman “preove” corresponds to English proof.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–1174) has prueve for what can establish the truth of something;^[5][2] about 1200 it also meant a witness.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Much used in law, the word gave faire preuve de (1265–1266), faire la preuve (Beaumanoir, 1283) and faire ses preuves de noblesse (1671), whence faire ses preuves “to prove oneself”.^[5][3] In Old French preuve and épreuve overlapped: both named the judicial ordeal (1253), and Brunetto Latini uses preuve for “experiment, test” (about 1265).^[5][3]

In Montaigne (1580) it is a mark or token of a quality (donner preuve de sa bonté).^[5][3] It took special senses in mathematics (1677), rhetoric (1765), sugar-making (1765) and distilling, where it was the little flask for testing spirits (1832) and then the test of strength itself (1875).^[3][5] Popular speech has à preuve (1838) and la preuve ! (1854).^[11]

Timeline

• 1160–1174 – Prueve in Wace.^[5]
• 1253 – “Ordeal”.^[5]
• 1265–1266 – Faire preuve de.^[5]
• 1283 – Faire la preuve in Beaumanoir.^[5]
• 1580 – “Token, mark”, in Montaigne.^[5]
• 1671 – Faire ses preuves de noblesse.^[5]
• 1832 – A distiller's flask.^[5]
• 1838 – À preuve.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Proof, evidence: faute de preuves, jusqu'à preuve du contraire: until proved otherwise.^[12][1]
2. Faire la preuve de: to prove, faire ses preuves: to prove oneself.^[12][3]
3. A token, mark: une preuve d'amour, faire preuve de: to show (courage, patience).^[12][13]
4. (mathematics) A check (of a calculation): preuve par neuf.^[13][2]
5. (familiar) À preuve, la preuve: as proof, look.^[11][2]

Related words

• prouver
• épreuve
• éprouver
• probant
• Latin probō
• English proof

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 404b
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)