provar

Forms

provar (first-person singular present provo, first-person singular preterite provei, past participle provado)^[1] Houaiss records the forms proue in the 13th century and prouue in 1390.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin probō (“to test, examine; to approve; to demonstrate”), written Old Galician-Portuguese provar in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from the adjective probus (“good, of good quality”).^[2][5] Wiktionary traces the adjective to Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰH-wó-s (“being in front”), from *pro- (“forward”) and *bʰuH- (“to be”).^[1]

The same Latin verb is Galician probar, Spanish probar, Catalan provar, French prouver and Italian provare.^[6][1] The medieval Spanish spelling was provar, and the verb is common to all the western Romance languages.^[7] The noun prova is formed from the verb, like Spanish prueba and Italian prova.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded from the 13th century, first in the sense “to establish the truth of, to bear witness”.^[3][2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria say est'é cousa provada “this is a proven thing”, but also use it for “to try, attempt”: Muitas fisicas provaron en ela “they tried many remedies on her”.^[9] In the love songs it means “to put to the test, to try”, as in Afonso Pais de Braga's Ai mia senhor! quer'eu provar “Ah, my lady, I want to try”.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the senses “to know by experience, to suffer” and “to try, test” to the 14th century.^[2] Barbosa in 1611 has provar com testimunhas “to prove by witnesses”.^[12] Bluteau in 1712 adds provar de alguma cousa, to take a little of something into the mouth, and provar o pão, to taste bread to see if it is good.^[13] Morais in 1813 sets the legal and scholarly sense of proof beside that of tasting.^[14]

Later dictionaries add trying on clothes, a sense the Priberam still describes as a fitting before the tailor finishes the garment.^[15][2] In Portugal the verb can also mean, colloquially, to get a beating.^[16]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, in the cantigas.^[2][3][9]
• 14th century – the senses “to know by experience” and “to try, test”.^[2]
• 1390 – the form prouue.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists provar com testimunhas.^[12]
• 1712 – Bluteau records the sense “to taste”.^[13]
• 1802 – provador first appears in a dictionary.^[17]
• 1813 – Morais defines proof by reasons, witnesses and documents.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prove, to show the truth of something with reasons, facts or witnesses: Ela provou que estava em casa.^[2][18][1]
2. To show, give proof of; to make evident.^[2][18]
3. To know by experience; to undergo, suffer.^[2][15]
4. To try, test; to put to the test.^[2][1]
5. To taste, to eat or drink a little of something to judge its quality: Prova o molho antes de servir.^[2][16][1]
6. To try on a garment or shoes to see whether they fit.^[2][15][1]
7. (Portugal, colloquial) To get a beating.^[16]

Word family

• prova
• provador
• contraprova

Related words

• aprovar
• comprovar
• provável
• Latin probō
• Galician probar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. provar
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. provar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. provar
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. probō
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6764
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 657
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. probare
9. ^ 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. provar
10. ^ Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. provar
11. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. provar
12. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. provar
13. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. provar
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 520
15. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. provar
16. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7558
17. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. provador
18. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. provar