prova

Forms

prova f (plural provas)^[1] The oldest texts write prova and proua, with ⟨u⟩ for /v/.^[2]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Portuguese provar, the verb “to prove; to test; to taste”, as Houaiss and the Academia's dictionary explain it.^[2][3] Houaiss adds that some derive it instead from Latin proba (“sample, specimen”), and that is the etymology Nascentes, Aurélio and Michaelis give;^{[2][4][5][6][1]} Wiktionary leaves both possibilities open.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} The Latin noun, used for “sample” in late texts, was itself formed from the verb.^[7][1]

The verb continues Latin probō (“to test; to approve; to prove”), from the adjective probus (“good, of good quality”).^[8][9] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *proβāō and further to Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰH-wó-s (“being in front”), a compound of *pro- (“forward”) and *bʰuH- (“to be”).^[1]

The same noun is Galician proba, Spanish prueba, Catalan prova, Italian prova and French preuve.^[1] Corominas dates the Spanish noun to 1219.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before any Portuguese text, the word appears in Latin documents of the monastery of Pendorada, where it means the ordeal or canonical purgation that a man accused of a crime had to undergo: a sale of 1003 includes the remission of una prova, quam debebam facere “an ordeal that I was bound to undergo”, and a document of 1127 has unam provam in the same sense.^[11] In Galician-Portuguese it is first found in the Cantigas de Santa Maria in the sense “proof, evidence”: desto vos mostro prova verdadeira “of this I show you true proof”.^[12][8]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates to the 15th century the sense “trial, hardship”, the same as provação.^[2] The dictionaries of the 17th and 18th centuries give the word mainly as a reason or document that shows the truth of something, rendered by Latin probatio and argumentum.^[13][14] Morais in 1813 still puts this sense first, with phrases for giving and asking for proofs.^[15]

The modern language added many senses of testing: a school examination, a test of the quality of a thing, the fitting of clothes at the tailor's, a portion of food or drink given to taste, a sporting competition, and in printing the trial impression taken for correction.^[2][16][1] In Rio Grande do Sul it also names a contest of horsemanship and a horse race.^[17] In northern Portugal a dialect survey recorded prova for the small cooked portions of a slaughtered pig that are offered to friends and relatives on the day of the killing.^[18]

Timeline

• 1003 – a Latin sale charter of Pendorada mentions una prova, an ordeal.^[11]
• 1127 – another Pendorada document has unam provam.^[11]
• 13th century – prova verdadeira “true proof” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[12][8]
• 15th century – first record of the sense “trial, hardship”.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro glosses prova with Latin probatio.^[13]
• 1755 – Folqman defines it as the reason that shows the truth of a thing.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais enters it with its phrases dar provas and em prova de.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. proof, evidence: whatever shows that a statement or a fact is true.^[2][16][1]
2. A sign or token of a feeling or quality: deu-nos provas de coragem.^[2][5]
3. A school test or examination: amanhã temos prova de história.^[2][1]
4. A competitive examination for a post, the same as concurso.^[2]
5. A test or trial of the quality of something; an experiment.^[2][16]
6. The fitting of a garment at the tailor's or dressmaker's.^[2][1]
7. A small portion of food or drink given to taste; a tasting.^[2][1]
8. A trial, a hard situation; provação.^[2][16]
9. (sports) A competition, usually individual; a race.^[2][1]
10. (printing) A proof, the trial impression taken for correction.^[2][16][1]
11. (law) A fact, circumstance or testimony that shows the guilt or innocence of the accused.^[2][1]
12. (arithmetic) A second operation that checks the result of a calculation.^[16]
13. (history of law) An ordeal; hence prova de fogo, the ordeal of the red-hot iron and, by extension, a severe test.^[2]

Word family

• contraprova

Related words

• provação
• provadamente
• provado
• provador
• provadura
• provança
• provante
• provar
• provativo
• provatório
• comprovar
• aprovar
• Galician proba
• Spanish prueba

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. prova
3. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. prova
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. prova
5. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. prova
6. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. prova
7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. s.v. proba
8. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. provar
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. probō
10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. probar
11. ^ a b c Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 246
12. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. prova
13. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. prova
14. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. prova
15. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 520
16. ^ a b c d e f Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. prova
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 2, s.v. prova
18. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. prova