proven

CEFRB1

/ˈpɹuː.vn̩/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Shown by evidence to be true, effective, or reliable.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    past participle of prove

Examples

  • He has proven that he is not worth his salt.

  • He hasn't been proven guilty yet.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1

Also pronounced

  • /ˈpɹəʊ.vn̩/
  • /ˈpɹoː.vən/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning
  1. Having been proved; having proved its value or truth.

More examples

In context
  • It's a proven fact that morphine is a more effective painkiller than acetaminophen is.

  • Mass lexical comparison is not a proven method for demonstrating relationships between languages.

  • Battle's never proven peace.

Quick test

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The new drug is a blank treatment for the disease, supported by many clinical trials.

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Scottish English, as past participle of preve, a Middle English variant of prove – compare woven (from weave) and cloven (from cleave), both of which feature -eve → -oven. Preve died out in England, but survived in Scotland, where proven developed, initially in a legal context, as in “The jury ruled that the charges were not proven.” See usage notes for historical usage patterns. Earlier, from Late Latin probō (“test, try, examine, approve, show to be good or fit, prove”, verb), from Latin probus (“good, worthy, excellent”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰuH-s (“being in front, prominent”), from *pro-, *per- (“toward”) + *bʰuH- (“to be”). Morphologically prove + -n.