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What is the difference between prove and proven?

prove | proven |

As verbs the difference between prove and proven

is that prove is to demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for while proven is past participle of lang=en.

As an adjective proven is

having been proved; having proved its value or truth.

prove

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) proven, from (etyl) . More at (l), (l), (l).

Alternative forms

* proove

Verb

  • To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for.
  • {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=3 , 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 onset}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=August 5, author=Nathan Rabin
  • , title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993) , passage=Valentine’s Day means different things for different people. For Homer, it means forking over a hundred dollars for a dusty box of chocolates at the Kwik-E-Mart after characteristically forgetting the holiday yet again. For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife. Most germane to the episode, for Lisa, Valentine’s Day means being the only person in her entire class to give Ralph a Valentine after noticing him looking crestfallen and alone at his desk.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution , passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. 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. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.}}
  • To turn out; to manifest.
  • (copulative) To turn out to be.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 5, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool , passage=He met Luis Suarez's cross at the far post, only for Chelsea keeper Petr Cech to show brilliant reflexes to deflect his header on to the bar. Carroll turned away to lead Liverpool's insistent protests that the ball had crossed the line but referee Phil Dowd and assistant referee Andrew Garratt waved play on, with even a succession of replays proving inconclusive.}}
  • To put to the test, to make trial of.
  • To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.
  • to prove a will
  • (archaic) To experience
  • * Spenser
  • Where she, captived long, great woes did prove .
  • (printing, dated, transitive) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.
  • to prove a page
    Derived terms
    * disprovability * disprovable, disprovably * disprove * disproved, disproven * exception that proves the rule * provability * provable * provably * prove out * prover * proving ground * unprovability * unprovable * unprovably * unprove * unproved * unproven

    Etymology 2

    Simple past form of proove, conjugated in the Germanic strong declension, on the pattern of choose ? chose.

    Verb

    (head)
  • (proove)
  • Statistics

    *

    proven

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having been proved; having proved its value or truth.
  • 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.

    Antonyms

    * (having been proved) unproven

    Verb

    (head)
  • Usage notes

    As the past participle of prove, proven is often discouraged, with proved preferred – “have proved” rather than “have proven”. However, today in everyday use they are both used, about equally. Historically, proved'' is the older form, while proven''' arose as a Scottish variant – see . Used in legal writing from mid 17th century, it entered literary usage more slowly, only becoming significant in the 19th century, with the poet among the earliest frequent users (presumably for reasons of meter). In the 19th century, '''proven was widely discouraged, and remained significantly less common through the mid 20th century (''proved being used approximately four times as often), by the late 20th century it came to be used about equally. As an attributive adjective, proven is much more commonly used, and proved is widely considered an error – “a proven method”, not *“a proved method”.