proof

Used in proving or testing.

Adjective

  1. Used in proving or testing.
    • a proof load; a proof charge
  2. Firm or successful in resisting.
    • proof against harm
    • waterproof; bombproof
    • And opportunity I here have had / To try thee, ſift thee, and confeſs have found thee / Proof againſt all temptation as a rock / Of Adamant, and, as a Center, firm / To the utmoſt of meer man both wiſe and good, / Not...
  3. Being of a certain standard as to alcohol content.
    • 60% proof liquor

Origin

From Middle English proof, from Old French prove, from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from Latin probō (“to prove”); see prove; compare also the doublet probe.

Forms

more proof most proof

Derived

110 proof acidproof actor-proof airproof audience-proof ballproof blastproof bombproof bulletproof burglarproof cannonproof childproof conscience-proof crashproof crushproof dampproof dishwasher proof drop-proof dummy-proof dustproof fadeproof fireproof flameproof foolproof

Noun

  1. An effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; a test; a trial.
    • I need proof of your unconditional love. Lend me some dough.
    • 1591, Edmund Spenser, Prosopopoia: or, Mother Hubbard's Tale, later also published in William Michael Rossetti, Humorous Poems, But the false Fox most kindly played his part, For whatsoever mother-wit or art Could work...
    • France I more praise and love; you are, my lord, Yourself for horsemanship much famed; and there You shall have many proofs to shew your skill. - c. 1633, John Ford, Love's Sacrifice, Act 1, Scene 1:

    Antonyms: disproof

  2. 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.
    • I'll have some proof. - c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • It was a grand sentence of Emanuel Swedenborg, which would alone indicate the greatness of that man's perception, — "It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to...
    • Faith, faith is an island in the setting sun But proof, yes Proof is the bottom line for everyone - 1990 October 16, Paul Simon, “Proof”, in The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.:

    Synonyms: testament testimony

  3. The quality or state of having been proved or tried; firmness or hardness which resists impression, or does not yield to force; impenetrability of physical bodies.
  4. Experience of something.
    • But the chaste damzell, that had never priefe / Of such malengine and fine forgerye, / Did easely beleeve her strong extremitye. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John...
  5. Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken.
  6. A proof sheet; a trial impression, as from type, taken for correction or examination.
    • And these men scour the printed proof for error, blunder, and misspelling. - 2010, Andrea Levy, The Long Song, Tinder Press (2017), page 382:
  7. A limited-run high-quality strike of a particular coin, originally as a test run, although nowadays mostly for collectors' sets.
  8. A sequence of statements consisting of axioms, assumptions, statements already demonstrated in another proof, and statements that logically follow from previous statements in the sequence, and which concludes with a statement that is the object of the proof.
  9. A process for testing the accuracy of an operation performed. Compare prove, transitive verb, 5.
  10. Armour of excellent or tried quality, and deemed impenetrable; properly, armour of proof.
    • Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapped in proof - c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  11. A measure of the alcohol content of liquor. Originally, in Britain, 100 proof was defined as 57.1% by volume (no longer used). In the US, 100 proof means that the alcohol content is 50% of the total volume of the liquid; thus, perfectly pure absolute alcohol would be 200 proof.

    Coordinate Terms: ABV abv alcohol by volume ABW abw

Forms

proofs

Hyponyms

artist's proof conditional proof devil's proof India proof judgement proof negative proof ontological proof printer's proof probabilistically checkable proof proof leaf proof of burn proof-of-concept proof of delivery proof of purchase proof of technology proof-of-work proof positive proof-read proof-reader smoke proof social proof the proof is in the eating the proof is in the pudding working proof

Related

probe prove

Derived

above proof burden of proof counterproof living proof misproof nonproof offer of proof page proof press proof proof by contradiction proof by example proof by exhaustion proof charge proof game proof house proofless prooflike prooflisten proof mark proof of concept proof of life proof of stake proof of work proof plane

Verb

  1. To proofread.
  2. To make resistant, especially to water.
  3. To test-fire with a load considerably more powerful than the firearm in question's rated maximum chamber pressure, in order to establish the firearm's ability to withstand pressures well in excess of those expected in service without bursting.
  4. To allow (yeast-containing dough) to rise, especially after it has been shaped
    • dough proofing
  5. To test the activeness of (yeast).
    • yeast proofing

    Synonyms: bloom rehydrate

Forms

proofs proofing proofed

Derived

overproof proofer proofing reproof underproof