Approval

How to spell approval

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce approval

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does approval mean?

1. nounOfficial agreement that something may proceed; formal sanction or authorisation.
2. nounA favourable opinion of someone or something; expressed agreement or admiration.

Approval in a sentence

• The project cannot begin until it receives board approval.

• She nodded in approval when she read the final draft.

• Planning approval for the extension took three months to obtain.

• The manager gave a quiet smile of approval at the results.

Where does approval come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb approbare, meaning 'to assent to' or 'to regard as good', which combined ad ('to, toward') with probare ('to test, examine, or prove worthy'). The same probare root sits inside everyday English words such as 'prove', 'probe', and 'probation', all carrying the idea of putting something to the test and finding it acceptable. English took 'approve' from Old French aprover in the 1300s, and then built the noun 'approval' on top of it by adding the native suffix -al, which forms nouns of action or result. The spelling trap lives in the middle and end: a single p after the doubled p of 'approve' is preserved, the unstressed vowel is a faint schwa that gives no clue whether to write -al or -el, and the word ends in -al rather than the -le of words like 'principle'. Keeping the link to 'prove' in mind helps fix the single v and the -val ending.

How the word is built

• ap- (from ad-: to, toward)
• prov (from probare: to test, prove)
• -al (noun suffix)