proof
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
< Middle English proof < Old French prove < Late Latin proba (“‘a proof’”) < Latin probare (“‘to prove’”); see prove.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /pɹuːf/
- Audio (US)help, file
- Rhymes: -uːf
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
proof (plural proofs)
- Any effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; a test; a trial.
- (A date for this quote is being sought): Edmund Spenser,
- For whatsoever mother wit or art Could work, he put in proof.
- (A date for this quote is being sought): Ford,
- You shall have many proofs to show your skill.
- (A date for this quote is being sought): Ure,
- Formerly, a very rude mode of ascertaining the strength of spirits was practiced, called the proof.
- (A date for this quote is being sought): Edmund Spenser,
- The degree of evidence which convinces the mind of any truth or fact, and produces belief; a test by facts or arguments which induce, or tend to induce, certainty of the judgment; conclusive evidence; demonstration.
- (A date for this quote is being sought): William Shakespeare,
- I'll have some proof.
- (A date for this quote is being sought): Ralph Waldo Emerson,
- It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to confirm whatever he pleases.
- 1990 October 28, Paul Simon, “Proof”, The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.
- Faith, faith is an island in the setting sun / But proof, proof is the bottom line for everyone
- (A date for this quote is being sought): William Shakespeare,
- The quality or state of having been proved or tried; firmness or hardness which resists impression, or doesn't yield to force; impenetrability of physical bodies.
- Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken.
- (printing) A proof sheet; a trial impression, as from type, taken for correction or examination.
- (mathematics): A process for testing the accuracy of an operation performed. Compare prove, transitive verb, 5.
- (obsolete): Armour of excellent or tried quality, and deemed impenetrable; properly, armour of proof.
- (US) A measure of the alcohol content of liquor. Originally, in Britain, 100 proof was defined as 57.1% by volume (not used anymore). In the US, 100 proof means that the alcohol content is 50% of the total volume of the liquid, and thus, absolute alcohol would be 200 proof.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
any effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth
the degree of evidence which convinces the mind of any truth or fact, and produces belief
quality or state of having been proved or tried
firmness of mind
a proof sheet
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process for testing the accuracy of an operation performed
armor of excellent or tried quality
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] Adjective
proof (comparative more proof, superlative most proof)
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Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
- Used in proving or testing; as, a proof load, or proof charge.
- Firm or successful in resisting; as, proof against harm; waterproof; bombproof.
- Being of a certain standard as to strength; -- said of alcoholic liquors.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
being of a certain standard as to strength
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to proof (third-person singular simple present proofs, present participle proofing, simple past and past participle proofed)
- (colloquial) To proofread.
[edit] External links
- proof in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- proof in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

