Proven

'pruːvən

verb (past participle)mediumVery CommonLiterature

Definitions

1

Having been demonstrated or established as true or correct.

'pruːvən

verb (past participle)neutralmedium
Literature

Shown or demonstrated to be true or valid.

The calculations have been proven correct.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're trying to convince your friend that cats are the best pets. If you show your friend tons of pictures, videos, and stories about why cats are so cool, and they finally agree, then you've *proven* your point! It means you showed something to be true.

👶 For kids: When something is proven, it means it's been shown to be true, like when you show your mom you did your homework.

More Examples

2

His innocence was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

3

The effectiveness of the new medicine has been proven through clinical trials.

4

The theory was proven experimentally.

How It's Used

Legal

"The evidence presented was proven to be reliable."

Scientific

"The hypothesis has been proven by multiple experiments."

From Middle English proven, past participle of prove, from Old French prover, from Latin probare ('to test, prove').

Common in scientific and legal writing from the 17th century onwards, and in general usage from the 19th century.

Memory tip

Think of 'proven' as something you can 'prove' with evidence.

prooven

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written