prove
UK/ˈpɹuːv/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈpɹʉwv/
prove verb: to demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out; to testify. Also the alternative form of proof.
Verb
prove (third-person singular simple present proves, present participle proving, simple past proved, past participle proved or proven)
- To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out; to testify.
- [VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs.1577, Socrates Scholasticus [i.e., Socrates of Constantinople], “Constantinus the Emperour Summoneth the Nicene Councell, it was Held at Nicæa a Citie of Bythnia for the Debatinge of the Controuersie...
- Mr. H …, whom no distinctions of that sort seemed to disturb, scarce gave himself or me breathing time from the last encounter, but, as if he had task'd himself to prove that the appearances of his vigour were not signs hung out in vain, in a few minutes he was in a condition for renewing the onset1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- substantiate
- To turn out; to manifest.
- It proved to be a cold day.
- A faulty connection proved to be the culprit.
- To turn out to be.
- Have an exit strategy should your calculations prove incorrect.
- The hope that he’d react proved utterly unfounded.
- To put to the test, to make trial of.
- They took the experimental car to the proving-grounds.
- The exception proves the rule.
- To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.
- to prove a will
- To experience.
- Where she, captived long, great woes did prove.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 34
- To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.
- to prove a page
- To determine by experiment which effects a substance causes when ingested.
Noun
prove (plural proves)
Also used as
prove is also the alternative form of proof.
prove is also the simple past of proove.
prove meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
prove in Hindi
- to demonstrate that something is true; to give proof for
- प्रमाणित करना pramāṇit karnā, साबित करना sābit karnā
prove in Tamil
- நிரூபிக்கவும், நிரூபிக்க
prove in Marathi
- सिद्ध करा, सिद्ध करणे
prove in Urdu
- ثابت کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
- prove in Bengali
- প্রমাণ করা proman kora
- prove in Malayalam
- തെളിയിക്കാൻ
- prove in Kannada
- ಸಾಬೀತುಪಡಿಸಲು
- prove in Gujarati
- સાબિત કરવા
- prove in Odia
- ପ୍ରମାଣ କରନ୍ତୁ, ପ୍ରମାଣ କର, ପ୍ରମାଣିତ କରନ୍ତୁ
- prove in Tagalog
- diyamahin
- prove in Arabic
- بَرْهَنَ barhana, أَثْبَتَ ʔaṯbata
- prove in Indonesian
- membuktikan, menguji
- prove in Persian
- اثبات کردن esbât kardan
- prove in Thai
- พิสูจน์ pí-sùut
- prove in Vietnamese
- chứng minh
Examples of prove in a sentence
- I will prove that my method is more effective than yours.
- For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife.2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in AV...
- The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
- “The commission is not set up to disprove or to prove President Trump’s claim, nor is it just looking at the 2016 election.2017 May 15, David Wright, “Kobach: ‘Election integrity’ panel ‘not set up to prove or to disprove’ Trump”, in CNN:
- Importantly, the hypothesis cannot be proven to be true—it can only be proven to be false.2025, Larry V. Hedges, Elizabeth Tipton, Designing Small Evaluation Studies, page 302:
Synonyms of prove
Forms of prove
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | proves |
| present participle | proving |
| past | proved |
| past participle | proved |
| past participle | proven |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | provest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | provedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | proveth |
| alternative form (obsolete) | proove |
| Noun | |
| plural | proves |
Origin of prove
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.
Simple past form of proove, conjugated as a Germanic strong verb, on the pattern of choose → chose.
Words formed from prove
- counterprove
- disprovability
- disprovable
- disprovably
- disprove
- disproved
- disproven
- exception that proves the rule
- fend and prove
- misprove
- overprove
- provability
- provable
- provably
- prove oneself
- prove out
- prover
- proving ground
- reprove
- unprovability
- unprovable
- unprovably
- unprove
- unproved
- unproven
- unproving
- until proven otherwise
Phrases with prove
Words that rhyme with prove
Questions about prove
- What does prove mean?
- Prove means to demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out; to testify.
- What is prove in Hindi?
- Prove in Hindi is प्रमाणित करना (pramāṇit karnā), साबित करना (sābit karnā). See Prove meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use prove in a sentence?
- I will prove that my method is more effective than yours.
- What part of speech is prove?
- Prove can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce prove?
- Prove is pronounced /ˈpɹuːv/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of prove?
- The past tense of prove is proved.
Words near prove in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prove (page history and authors); prove (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prove (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prove (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prove (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prove (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prove (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prove (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-prove.ogg.
Cite this entry: “prove.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prove. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.