épreuve French · revision 38660

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1175, Benoît de Sainte-Maure|origins=la probō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /e.pʁœv/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''épreuve''' ''f'' (plural épreuves)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|esprove]], [[m|fro|esprueve]] (13th century) and [[m|fro|espreuve]] (14th century);^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Monet records ''épreuve'' in 1636.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun formed from [[éprouver]].^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|9, 406a) The verb, Old French [[m|fro|esprover]], is formed from [[prouver]] with the prefix [[é-]], and goes back to [[la|probō|t=to test; to approve; to prove]].^(Wiktionary)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The vowel /ou/ of the verb became /eu/ in its stressed forms, as in the old present tense of [[trouver]], and the noun took the stressed vowel.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Compare [[pro|esproa]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''esprove'' about 1175 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's ''Chronique des ducs de Normandie'', meaning the action of testing something or someone.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The GLLF dates this first record about 1160.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start the word meant both a test and, specially, a trial that makes someone suffer, whence ''l'épreuve'', adversity, now literary.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In feudal law the ''épreuve judiciaire'' was an [[ordalie]] (ordeal), a test in which God was asked to show the guilty party.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) From about 1265 (Jean de Meun) it was what allows the worth of an idea or a person to be judged, whence ''à l'épreuve'' (1587), ''mettre à l'épreuve'' and ''à l'épreuve de'' “able to withstand” (late 16th century); ''à toute épreuve'' dates from the late 17th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In the classical period it could also mean “proof, testimony” (1670, Molière).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) A test of the qualities of a thing gave the technical and scientific uses, and by metonymy the word named a surgical probe (1314).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ From the 16th century it was used of the result of a trial: a printer's [[m|en|proof]] (before 1615, Pasquier), then an engraver's proof (1680), a photographic print (1857) and, in the 20th century, film rushes.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) An examination is made up of ''épreuves'' (late 19th century), and in sport an ''épreuve'' is an event or race (1853, horse racing).^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – ''Esprove'' in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – A means of judging worth, in Jean de Meun.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1314 – A surgical probe, in Henri de Mondeville.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+ * 1587 – ''À l'épreuve''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Before 1615 – A printer's proof, in Pasquier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – Monet records the spelling ''épreuve''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1680 – An engraver's proof, in Richelet.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1853 – A sporting event, in horse racing.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1857 – A photographic print.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A painful experience, [[m|en|ordeal]] or misfortune that tests one's courage: ''traverser de rudes épreuves'', ''(literary)'' ''l'épreuve'', adversity.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|test]] of worth or quality: ''mettre quelqu'un à l'épreuve'', ''mettre à rude épreuve'', ''à toute épreuve'', able to withstand anything, ''à l'épreuve des balles'', bulletproof.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A trial of a machine or material: ''épreuve de résistance''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(history)'' ''Épreuves judiciaires'': ordeals by fire or water.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # One of the papers or parts of an [[m|en|examination]]: ''les épreuves écrites''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(sports)'' An event, heat or race: ''une épreuve contre la montre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(printing, engraving)'' A [[m|en|proof]]: ''corriger les épreuves''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(photography)'' A print, ''(film, television)'' ''épreuves de tournage'', rushes.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contre-épreuve]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[éprouver]]

+ * [[éprouvette]]

+ * [[preuve]]

+ * [[prouver]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}