proof

Definition of proof

Etymology

Middle English proof < Old French prove < Late Latin proba (“a proof”) < Latin probare (“to prove”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɹuːf/
• Audio (US) ^[?]
• Rhymes: -uːf

Noun

proof (countable and uncountable; plural proofs)

1. (countable) An effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; a test; a trial.
2. (uncountable) 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.
3. 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.
4. (uncountable, obsolete) Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken.
5. (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.

Hyponyms

• testimony
• evidence
• trial

Derived terms

• burden of proof