Proofs

How to spell proofs

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce proofs

What does proofs mean?

1. nounPieces of evidence or reasoning that establish that something is true.
2. nounTrial copies of printed material produced so errors can be corrected before the final run.
3. verbTests dough by letting yeast ferment, or checks text for errors (third person singular).

Proofs in a sentence

• noun

  The lawyer presented several proofs that the contract had been signed.

• noun

  The designer emailed the page proofs for a final check before printing.

• verb

  The baker always proofs the dough in a warm corner of the kitchen.

• noun

  Mathematicians spend years refining the proofs behind a single theorem.

• noun

  The author marked corrections on the proofs in red ink.

• verb

  She carefully proofs every report before it reaches the client.

Where does proofs come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of 'proof', a word that travelled into English through Old French. The Old French noun 'preove' (later 'prueve') came from the Late Latin 'proba', meaning 'a test' or 'a trial', which was formed from the verb 'probare', 'to test, examine, or demonstrate as good'. That same Latin root also gave English 'probe', 'probable', and 'approve', all of which carry the idea of putting something to the test. English adopted the word in the 1200s, first with the sense of an act of testing and then of the evidence that such a test produces. The spelling shifted over the centuries from forms with 'preve' and 'prove' toward the modern 'proof' with a double 'o', which now sits a little awkwardly beside its verb relative 'prove'; remembering the link to 'prove' explains why the vowel sound is long even though it is written 'oo'.

How the word is built

• proof (test, demonstration of truth)
• -s (plural / third-person verb ending)