approve.
To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.
Meaning & usage
To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.
Although we may disagree with it, we must nevertheless approve the sentence handed down by the court-martial.
To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of.
We approve the measure of the administration, for it is an excellent decision.
To make proof of; to demonstrate; to prove or show practically.
To consider worthy (to); to be pleased (with); to accept.
Her mother never approves of any of her boyfriends. She thinks nobody is good enough for her little girl.
To show to be worthy; to demonstrate the merits of.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *probʰHwós Proto-Italic *proβwos Proto-Italic *proβos Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Proto-Italic *proβāō Latin probō Latin approbāreder. Old French aproverbor. Middle English aproven English approve From Middle English aproven, appreoven, appreven, apreven, borrowed from Old French aprover, approver, approuvir, appreuver (“to approve”), from Latin approbō, from ad + probō (“to esteem as good, approve, prove”). Doublet of approbate. By surface analysis, ad- + prove.
To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit — said especially of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English approuen, approven, from Old French aprouer; a- + a form apparently derived from the pro, prod, in Latin prōsum (“be useful or profitable”). Compare with improve.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.