prouver

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pʁu.ve/^[1]

Forms

prouver^[1] Old French prover (late 11th century); prouver from about 1265.^[2][3][4] In the 17th century prouver and preuver were both in use.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French prover, inherited from Latin probō (“to test, try; to approve; to make credible, prove”), from probus (“good, upright”).^{[6][2][7][8][1]} The Latin verb spread to most of the Romance languages, though not to Romanian, according to Rey;^[2] the Petit Robert lists Romanian proba and also Basque frogatu and German probieren.^[9] The family shows the alternation ⟨ou⟩/⟨eu⟩ of this verb and preuve.^[9]

Cognate with Italian provare, Occitan provar, Spanish probar and Portuguese provar.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benedeit's Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century) has it for “to show, demonstrate”; the Lois de Guillaume (about 1130) use prover que in law, to establish proof.^[6][2] Rey and Bloch–Wartburg note that it also meant “to put to the test” until the 16th century, especially in the past participle.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The old sense of testing was divided among prouver, éprouver and approuver.^[2] With a thing as subject it means “to be the sign of” (1197, Hélinand), and a scientific use appears in Brunetto Latini (about 1265).^[6] Bien se prouver “to behave well” is in Chrétien de Troyes (about 1170), and prouver “to show a quality or feeling” dates from about 1215.^[6][2] The saying qui prouve trop ne prouve rien is in Bossuet (1690).^[3]

Timeline

• Late 11th century – Prover “to put to the test”.^[3]
• Early 12th century – “To demonstrate”, Benedeit.^[6]
• c. 1130 – Legal proof, Lois de Guillaume.^[6]
• c. 1265 – The form prouver; scientific use, Brunetto Latini.^[6][3]
• 1657 – Reflexive se prouver, Pascal.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prove, demonstrate by evidence or reasoning: prouver son innocence, cela reste à prouver.^[9][1]
2. (of a thing) To be the sign of, show: cela prouve qu'il a raison.^[6][9]
3. To show, give evidence of (a feeling or quality): prouver sa reconnaissance.^[6][9]
4. (familiar) Avoir quelque chose à prouver: to need to show what one is capable of.^[9]

Word family

• preuve
• prouvable
• éprouver

Related words

• approuver
• probant
• probable
• probe
• Latin probō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 404a
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter