proof
[ proof ]
/ pruf /
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noun
adjective
verb (used with object)
OTHER WORDS FOR proof
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Origin of proof
synonym study for proof
1. See evidence.
historical usage of proof
Proof entered English in the 12th century as Middle English prove, prooff, prof, proufe, with the meaning “evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true.” It finds its roots in Late Latin proba, meaning "a test." An example of proof meaning “test” is in the English proverb “All the proof of a pudding is in the eating,” first recorded in English in 1605. The proverb is popularly but wrongly attributed to Miguel Cervantes. In the second part of Cervantes’ Don Quixote (published in 1615), Cervantes wrote “Por la muestra se conoce el paño,” literally, “From the sample you know the cloth,” which was translated into English as “The proof of a pudding is in the eating” by Peter Anthony Motteux, a French-born English playwright and translator, in his English translation (third edition 1712). We know this today as the saying “The proof is in the pudding.”
OTHER WORDS FROM proof
re-proof, verb (used with object)un·proofed, adjectiveOther definitions for proof (2 of 2)
-proof
a combining form meaning “resistant, impervious to” that specified by the initial element: burglarproof; childproof; waterproof.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
WORDS THAT USE -PROOF
What does -proof mean?
The combining form –proof is used like a suffix meaning “resistant, impervious to.” Impervious means “impenetrable.” It is occasionally used in a variety of everyday and technical terms.
The form –proof ultimately comes from Latin proba, meaning “test.”
Examples of -proof
One example of a term that uses the form –proof is soundproof, “impervious to sound.”
The first part of the word, sound–, means “sound” or “noise.” As we have seen, –proof means “resistant.” Soundproof literally means “resistant to sound.”
What are some words that use the combining form –proof?
What are some other forms that –proof may be commonly confused with?
Break it down!
Given the meaning of –proof, what does childproof mean?
How to use proof in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for proof (1 of 2)
proof
/ (pruːf) /
noun
adjective
verb
Word Origin for proof
C13: from Old French preuve a test, from Late Latin proba, from Latin probāre to test
British Dictionary definitions for proof (2 of 2)
-proof
adjective, combining form
secure against (damage by); (make) impervious towaterproof; mothproof; childproof
Word Origin for -proof
from proof (adj)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for proof
proof
[ prōōf ]
A demonstration of the truth of a mathematical or logical statement, based on axioms and theorems derived from those axioms.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.