Etymograph

English

approve

Approve comes from Latin approbāre, from probō ‘to approve, permit, commend’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*probʰHwós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβwos1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβos1‘favourable’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβāō1‘to approve’reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprobō1‘to approve, permit, commend’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapprobāre1
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aprover1
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aproven1‘to prove’
  10. Englishearliest quotation a. 1729approve1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English approve
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1729, John Rogers: “The first care and concern must be to approve…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, English approve‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*probʰHwósWiktionary, English approvereconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβwosWiktionary, English approvereconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβosWiktionary, English approve‘favourable’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*proβāōWiktionary, English approve‘to approve’reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprobōWiktionary, English approve‘to approve, permit, commend’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapprobāreWiktionary, English approve
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aproverWiktionary, English approve
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aprovenWiktionary, English approve‘to prove’
  10. Englishearliest quotation a. 1729approveWiktionary, English approve. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1729, John Rogers: “The first care and concern must be to approve…”

Equivalent to ad- + prove

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’

Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’

Latin ad ‘to, towards’

English ad-

Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰuH-s ‘being in front’

…

Latin probō ‘to test; to approve’

Proto-West Germanic *prōbōn

Old English prōfian ‘to esteem; to test, prove’

Middle English proven

English prove

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’

be, been, power, possible, future, build, present, physical, essential, bond, presence, bush, bound, absence, contribution, physician, entity, booth, absent, favorable, distribute, contributor, fiat, bun, favourable, bouquet, retribution, attribution, imp, rebuke, impotent, impossibility, bower, aren, beamer, bosque, phylogeny, physic, phylum, busk, 82 more

through Proto-Italic *proβos ‘favourable’

probe, probity, 9 more

through Latin probō ‘to approve, permit, commend’

proof, improve, probability, probation, probable, probate, probative, 12 more

Today it means

verb To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “approve”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- / approve

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