proven

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pro-bʰuH-s“being in front, prominent”
2. Latin · derived fromprobus“good, worthy, excellent”
3. Late Latin · derived fromprobō“test, try, examine, approve, show to be good or fit, prove”
4. English todayproven

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.

Words from the same roots