different between proof vs provable

English

Etymology

From Middle English proof, from Old French prove, from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from Latin probare (“to prove”); see prove; compare also the doublet probe.

Pronunciation

• (UK, Canada) enPR: pro?of, IPA^(key): /p?u?f/
• (US) enPR: pro?of, IPA^(key): /p?uf/
• (General Australian, General New Zealand) enPR: pro?of, IPA^(key): /p???f/
• Rhymes: -u?f

Noun

proof (countable and uncountable, plural proofs)

1. (countable) An effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; a test; a trial.
   • 1591, Edmund Spenser, Prosopopoia: or, Mother Hubbard's Tale, later also published in William Michael Rossetti, Humorous Poems,

     But the false Fox most kindly played his part,

     For whatsoever mother-wit or art

     Could work he put in proof. No practice sly,

     No counterpoint of cunning policy,

     No reach, no breach, that might him profit bring.

     But he the same did to his purpose wring.

   • c. 1633, John Ford, Love's Sacrifice, Act 1, Scene 1,

     France I more praise and love; you are, my lord,

     Yourself for horsemanship much famed; and there

     You shall have many proofs to shew your skill.

   • 1831, Thomas Thomson, A System of Chemistry of Inorganic Bodies, Volume 2,

     A given quantity of the spirits was poured upon a quantity of gunpowder in a dish and set on fire. If at the end of the combustion, the gunpowder continued dry enough, it took fire and exploded; but if it had been wetted by the water in the spirits, the flame of the alcohol went out without setting the powder on fire. This was called the proof.

2. (uncountable) The degree of evidence which convinces the mind of any truth or fact, and produces belief; a test by facts or arguments which induce, or tend to induce, certainty of the judgment; conclusive evidence; demonstration.
   • c.1603, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice,

     I'll have some proof.

   • 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Over-Soul in Essays: First Series,

     It was a grand sentence of Emanuel Swedenborg, which would alone indicate the greatness of that man's perception, — "It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false, this is the mark and character of intelligence."

   • 1990 October 16, Paul Simon, "Proof" in The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.,

     Faith, faith is an island in the setting sun

     But proof, yes

     Proof is the bottom line for everyone

3. The quality or state of having been proved or tried; firmness or hardness which resists impression, or does not yield to force; impenetrability of physical bodies.
4. (obsolete) Experience of something.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.1:

     But the chaste damzell, that had never priefe / Of such malengine and fine forgerye, / Did easely beleeve her strong extremitye.

5. (uncountable, obsolete) Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken.
6. (countable, printing) A proof sheet; a trial impression, as from type, taken for correction or examination.
7. (numismatics) A limited-run high-quality strike of a particular coin, originally as a test run, although nowadays mostly for collectors' sets.
8. (countable, logic, mathematics) A sequence of statements consisting of axioms, assumptions, statements already demonstrated in another proof, and statements that logically follow from previous statements in the sequence, and which concludes with a statement that is the object of the proof.
9. (countable, mathematics) A process for testing the accuracy of an operation performed. Compare prove, transitive verb, 5.
10. (obsolete) Armour of excellent or tried quality, and deemed impenetrable; properly, armour of proof.
    • c.1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth,

      Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapped in proof

11. (US) A measure of the alcohol content of liquor. Originally, in Britain, 100 proof was defined as 57.1% by volume (no longer used). In the US, 100 proof means that the alcohol content is 50% of the total volume of the liquid; thus, absolute alcohol would be 200 proof.

Hyponyms

• artist's proof
• conditional proof
• printer's proof
• proof reader
• working proof

Derived terms

• burden of proof
• proof of concept
• prooflike

Related terms

• probe
• prove

Descendants

• ? Russian: ???? (pruf), ?????? (prúfy)
  • ? Russian: ????????? (pruflínk, literally “proof + link”)

Translations

Adjective

proof (comparative more proof, superlative most proof)

1. Used in proving or testing.

2. Firm or successful in resisting.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1803, The Works of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Volume 5, page426,

     This was a good, ?tout proof article of faith, pronounced under an anathema, by the venerable fathers of this philo?ophick ?ynod.

   • quoted in 1818, Christopher Kelly, History of the French Revolution and of the Wars produced by that Memorable Event

     The French cavalry, in proof armour, repeatedly charged our squares, their cannon opening chasms; but the British infantry, though greatly diminished, were inflexible and impenetrable to the last.

3. (of alcoholic liquors) Being of a certain standard as to alcohol content.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

proof (third-person singular simple present proofs, present participle proofing, simple past and past participle proofed)

1. (transitive, intransitive, colloquial) To proofread.
2. (transitive) To make resistant, especially to water.
3. (transitive, firearms) To test-fire with a load considerably more powerful than the firearm in question's rated maximum chamber pressure, in order to establish the firearm's ability to withstand pressures well in excess of those expected in service without bursting.
4. (transitive, cooking) To allow yeast-containing dough to rise.
5. (transitive, cooking) To test the activeness of yeast.

Translations

Derived terms

• overproof
• proofing
• underproof

Further reading

• proof in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• proof in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Alternative forms

• proveable

Etymology

From Middle English provable, prevable, equivalent to prove +? -able. Doublet of probable.

Adjective

provable (not comparable)

1. Of a statement or hypothesis that can be proven.

Antonyms

• unprovable

Related terms

• proof
• provably
• prove

Translations