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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

prove.

To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out; to testify.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈpɹuːv/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹʉwv/British, Southern, Standard/ˈpɹuv/General-American/ˈpɹʉːv/Australia, New-Zealand

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

    transitive
    I will prove that my method is more effective than yours.

  2. To turn out; to manifest.

    intransitive
    It proved to be a cold day.
    A faulty connection proved to be the culprit.

  3. To turn out to be.

    copulative
    Have an exit strategy should your calculations prove incorrect.
    The hope that he’d react proved utterly unfounded.

  4. To put to the test, to make trial of.

    transitive
    They took the experimental car to the proving-grounds.
    The exception proves the rule.

  5. To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.

    transitive
    to prove a will

  6. To experience.

    archaic · transitive

  7. To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.

    dated · transitive

  8. Alternative form of proof (“allow (dough) to rise; test the activeness of (yeast); pressure-test (a firearm)”).

    alt-of · alternative

  9. To determine by experiment which effects a substance causes when ingested.

Where this word comes from

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.

noun/ˈpɹuːv/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹʉwv/British, Southern, Standard/ˈpɹuv/General-American/ˈpɹʉːv/Australia, New-Zealand

  1. The process of dough proofing.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/pɹəʊv/Received-Pronunciation

  1. simple past of proove

    form-of · past
Where this word comes from

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

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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.