different between prove vs probation

English

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: pro?ov, IPA^(key): /p?u?v/
• Rhymes: -u?v

Alternative forms

• proove

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.

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.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 26:

     Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee,

     Till then not show my head where thou may'st prove me.
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)”)

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

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

prove (plural proves)

1. (baking) The process of dough proofing.
   • 2009, Paul Allam and David McGuinness, Bourke Street Bakery: the ultimate baking companion:

     You may also need to think about what the prove is doing to the loaf of bread — it is warming the dough and making it moist, allowing it to rise […]

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???v/

Verb

prove

1. simple past tense of proove

Further reading

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

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): /?pro?.v?/
• Hyphenation: pro?ve
• Rhymes: -o?v?

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 *peh?w- (“few, small”). Compare Spanish pobre.

Adjective

prove (Latin spelling)

1. poor

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?vi

Verb

prove

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of provar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of provar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of provar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of provar

English

Etymology

From Middle French probation, from Old French probacion, from Latin probatio (“a trying, inspection, examination”), from probare, past participle probatus (“to test, examine”); see probate, probe, prove.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?p?o??be???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

probation (countable and uncountable, plural probations)

1. A period of time when a person occupies a position only conditionally and may easily be removed for poor performance

2. (law) A type of sentence where convicted criminals are allowed to continue living in the community but will automatically be sent to jail if they violate certain conditions

3. (archaic) The act of testing; proof
   • 1661, Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist, page 20,

     And I shall proceed to consider the testimony of Experience, when I shall have first advertis'd You, that if Men were as perfectly rational as 'tis to be wish'd they were, this sensible way of Probation would be as needless as 'tis wont to be imperfect.

Derived terms

• probationary
• probation officer
• academic probation

Related terms

• probate
• probe
• prove

Translations

Further reading

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

French

Pronunciation

Noun

probation f (plural probations)

1. probation (especially religious)