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Proven vs Provable - What's the difference?

proven | provable |

As adjectives the difference between proven and provable

is that proven is having been proved; having proved its value or truth while provable is of a statement or hypothesis that can be proven.

As a verb proven

is .

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”.

    References

    * English adjectives ending in -en English irregular past participles ----

    provable

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Of a statement or hypothesis that can be proven.

    • Antonyms

    * unprovable

    Related terms

    * proof * provably * prove