English
proof
Proof comes from Middle English proof, from Old French prove, from Late Latin proba ‘a proof’, from Latin probō ‘to test, prove’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pro-bʰH-wó-s‘being in front’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβos‘correct, proper’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*proβāō‘to approve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprobō‘to approve; to test’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEproba‘a proof’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prove
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500proof
- Englishearliest quotation 1590proof
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pro-bʰH-wó-s‘being in front’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβos‘correct, proper’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*proβāō‘to approve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprobō‘to approve; to test’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEproba‘a proof’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prove
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500proof
- Englishearliest quotation 1590proof
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto I: “But the chaste damzell, that had never priefe /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰH-wó-s ‘being in front’
through Proto-Italic *proβāō ‘to approve’
through Latin probō ‘to prove’
improve, prove, probability, probation, probable, probate, probative, 12 more
Today it means
noun An effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; a test; a trial.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰH-wó-s / proof