probe English · revision 10635

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1425|origins=la-med proba}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /prəʊb/, US /proʊb/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|proba|t=examination]], in Late Latin a test or proof,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin probāre, to test, prove (see [[prove]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A slender instrument for exploring wounds and body cavities, also a medical examination: probably before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) 1580 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb is from 1649, in Lovelace's Poems, at first figurative: to search into, investigate;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the physical sense, to examine with a probe, is from the 1680s.^(Etymonline) The NODE dates the verb from the mid-17th century.^(NODE 1998) The noun as an act of probing is from 1890,^(Barnhart 1988) and a penetrating investigation, as by a newspaper, from 1903.^(Etymonline) A small electrode or sensor placed in something is from 1924,^(OED 1989) and an unmanned exploratory spacecraft from 1953.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1425 – a surgical instrument.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1649 – to probe, investigate.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1680s – to examine with a probe.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1903 – an investigation.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1953 – a space probe.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A slender, blunt [[surgical]] instrument for exploring a wound or body cavity.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device or spacecraft sent to explore and gather information, as about a distant planet.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A thorough [[investigation]], as into wrongdoing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To explore with a probe.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To question or look into closely; to [[investigate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[prober]]

+ * [[probingly]]

+ * [[probeable]]

+ * [[cryoprobe]]

+ * [[microprobe]]

+ * [[reprobe]]

+ * [[unprobed]]

+ * [[space probe]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[probable]]

+ * [[prove]]

+ * [[proof]]

+ * [[probity]]

+ * [[probation]]

+ * [[proband]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}