prove

English Online Dictionary. What means prove‎? What does prove mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English proven, from Old English prōfian (“to esteem, regard as, evince, try, prove”) and Old French prover (“to prove”), both from Latin probō (“test, try, examine, approve, show to be good or fit, prove”, verb), from probus (“good, worthy, excellent”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰuH-s (“being in front, prominent”), from *pro-, *per- (“toward”) + *bʰuH- (“to be”). Displaced native Middle English sothen (“to prove”), from Old English sōþian (“to prove”). Doublet of probe. More at for, be, soothe.

Alternative forms

• proove (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• enPR: pro͞ov, IPA^(key): /pɹuːv/
• Rhymes: -uːv

Verb

prove (third-person singular simple present proves, present participle proving, simple past proved, past participle proved or proven)

1. (transitive) To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out.

2. (intransitive) To turn out; to manifest.

3. (copulative) To turn out to be.
   • 1964, Jean Merrill, The Pushcart War, 2014 The New York Review Children's Collection edition, →ISBN, chapter 33, page 199:

     This battle did not take place in the streets. It took place entirely in words, and it was to prove the turning point in the war.

4. (transitive) To put to the test, to make trial of.
5. (transitive) To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.

   to prove a will

6. (archaic, transitive) To experience.
7. (printing, dated, transitive) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.

   to prove a page

8. Alternative form of proof (“allow (dough) to rise; test the activeness of (yeast); pressure-test (a firearm)”)
9. (homeopathy) To determine by experiment which effects a substance causes when ingested.

Usage notes

As the past participle of prove, proven is sometimes still discouraged, and proved is preferred (“have proved” rather than “have proven”). However, they are both about equally common in US English, and both are used and considered correct in UK English. In UK English, “proved” is more common, but not, for example, in the very common expression “innocent until proven guilty” (rarely “innocent until proved guilty”).

In addition, as an attributive adjective, proven is much more commonly used, and proved is widely proscribed – “a proven method”, not “a proved method”.

Historically, proved is the older form, while proven arose as a Scottish variant – see etymology. Used in legal writing from the mid-17th century, it entered literary usage more slowly, only becoming significant in the 19th century, with the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson among the earliest frequent users (presumably for reasons of meter). In the 19th century, proven was widely discouraged, and remained significantly less common through the mid-20th century (proved being used approximately four times as often); by the late 20th century it came to be used about equally often in US English.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• the exception proves the rule

References

• Paul Brians (2009) “proved”, in Common Errors in English Usage, 2nd edition, Wilsonville, Or.: William, James & Company, →ISBN.

Noun

prove (plural proves)

1. (baking) The process of dough proofing.

Etymology 2

Simple past form of proove, conjugated as a Germanic strong verb, on the pattern of choose → chose.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹəʊv/

Verb

prove

1. simple past of proove

Further reading

• “prove”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “prove”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Prevo, pervo

Dutch

Alternative forms

• preuve (chiefly Northern Dutch)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch prove, from Middle French preuve, from Old French prueve, from Medieval Latin provenda, from older praebenda.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈproː.və/
• Hyphenation: pro‧ve
• Rhymes: -oːvə

Noun

prove f (plural proven, diminutive provetje n)

1. a gift out of love
2. a life-long maintenance

Derived terms

• provenier

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin proba.

Noun

prove f (plural provis)

1. proof
2. test, examination, trial
3. evidence
4. try

Related terms

• provâ

Italian

Noun

prove f

1. plural of prova

Anagrams

• pover

Ladino

Etymology

From Old Spanish [Term?], from Latin pauper, pauperem, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Compare Spanish pobre.

Adjective

prove (Latin spelling)

1. poor

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔvi

Verb

prove

1. inflection of provar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative