Approved

How to spell approved

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce approved

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does approved mean?

1. verbOfficially accepted, sanctioned, or agreed to something as satisfactory.
2. adjectiveHaving received official acceptance or sanction.

Approved in a sentence

• verb

  The committee approved the budget after a brief discussion.

• adjective

  Only approved suppliers may bid for the contract.

• verb

  The bank approved her mortgage application within a week.

• adjective

  The medication is on the list of approved treatments.

Where does approved come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin approbare, meaning 'to assent to' or 'to regard as good', built from the prefix ad- 'to, toward' and probare 'to test, examine, or prove worthy'. That same probare gives English the words 'prove', 'probe', and 'probation', all carrying the underlying sense of putting something to the test. The verb passed through Old French as aprover before reaching Middle English in the 1300s, where it settled into the sense of formally sanctioning or finding acceptable. The 'b' of the Latin probare softened to a 'v' along the French route, which is why we now write 'approve' rather than anything resembling 'approbe'. The form 'approved' is simply the regular past tense and past participle, and its spelling trap lies mostly in remembering the single 'p' after the doubled 'p' of the 'ap-' prefix.

How the word is built

• ap- (to, toward)
• prov (from probare: to test, prove)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)