preuve French · revision 15902

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1160–1174, Wace|origins=la probō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁœv/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''preuve''' ''f'' (plural preuves)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|prueve]] (Wace), ''proeve'', ''preuve'' (13th century, ''Assises de Jérusalem'').^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a back-formation from [[prouver]], made on the old stressed forms of the verb (“il prueve”),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 404b) the verb being [[inh|la|probō|t=to test; to approve; to prove]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré and Wiktionary also compare a noun [[la-lat|proba|t=trial]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|prova]], [[pro|prova]], [[ca|proba]] and [[es|prueba]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935) The Anglo-Norman “preove” corresponds to [[en|proof]].^(AND)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wace's ''Roman de Rou'' (1160–1174) has ''prueve'' for what can establish the truth of something;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) about 1200 it also meant a witness.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==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”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In Old French ''preuve'' and ''épreuve'' overlapped: both named the judicial ordeal (1253), and Brunetto Latini uses ''preuve'' for “experiment, test” (about 1265).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In Montaigne (1580) it is a mark or token of a quality (''donner preuve de sa bonté'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Popular speech has ''à preuve'' (1838) and ''la preuve !'' (1854).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1160–1174 – ''Prueve'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1253 – “Ordeal”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1265–1266 – ''Faire preuve de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1283 – ''Faire la preuve'' in Beaumanoir.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – “Token, mark”, in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – ''Faire ses preuves de noblesse''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1832 – A distiller's flask.^(TLFi)

+ * 1838 – ''À preuve''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|proof|alt=Proof]], [[m|en|evidence]]: ''faute de preuves'', ''jusqu'à preuve du contraire'': until proved otherwise.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Faire la preuve de'': to prove, ''faire ses preuves'': to prove oneself.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A token, mark: ''une preuve d'amour'', ''faire preuve de'': to show (courage, patience).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A check (of a calculation): ''preuve par neuf''.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''À preuve'', ''la preuve'': as proof, look.^(BHVF)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prouver]]

+ * [[épreuve]]

+ * [[éprouver]]

+ * [[probant]]

+ * [[la|probō]]

+ * [[en|proof]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}