approve
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: ə-pro͞ovʹ
ipa: /əˈpɹuːv/
rhymes: -uːv
Forms: form: approves
form: approving
form: approved
form: approved
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: approve
form: approve
form: approved
form: approve
form: approvest
form: approved
form: approvedst
form: approves
form: approveth
form: approved
form: approve
form: approved
form: approve
form: approved
form: approve
form: -
form: approving
form: approved
form: approven
Etymology: From Middle English aproven, appreoven, appreven, apreven, borrowed from Old French aprover, approver, approuvir, appreuver (“to approve”), from Latin approbō, from ad + probō (“to esteem as good, approve, prove”). Doublet of approbate. By surface analysis, ad- + prove.
Senses: examples: text: Although we may disagree with it, we must nevertheless approve the sentence handed down by the court-martial.
text: It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
ref: 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
glosses: To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.
examples: text: We approve the measure of the administration, for it is an excellent decision.
glosses: To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of.
examples: text: He had long burned with impatience to approve his valour.
ref: 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, section III:
text: 1812–1818, Lord Byron, Child Harolde's Piligrimage
'T is an old lesson; Time approves it true.
text: Opportunities to approve[…]worth.
ref: 1844, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: Second Series:
text: He had approved himself a great warrior.
ref: 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession Of James II:
text: Sore against our will did we of Witchland join with the Demons in that war, foreseeing (as hath been bloodily approved) that the issue must be but the puffing up of the Demons, who desire no other thing than to be lords and tyrants of all the world.
ref: 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 37:
glosses: To make proof of; to demonstrate; to prove or show practically.
examples: text: Her mother never approves of any of her boyfriends. She thinks nobody is good enough for her little girl.
text: Their address was in the most dutiful manner, approving of what her majesty had done toward a peace, and dissolve her parliament
ref: 1758, Jonathan Swift, The History of the Four Last Years of the Queen:
text: They had not approved of the deposition of James.
ref: 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession Of James II:
text: Dad didn't approve of me, do you? I'm alive with something inside of me.
ref: 1995, The Verve, A Northern Soul:
text: Your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me. But I do, I think I do. And you're an all-American boy
ref: 2016, Mitski, Your Best American Girl:
synonyms: cheer
glosses: To consider worthy (to); to be pleased (with); to accept.
raw_tags: followed by "of"
examples: text: The first care and concern must be to approve himself to God.
ref: a. 1729, John Rogers, The Duty and Advantageous of Trust in God:
glosses: To show to be worthy; to demonstrate the merits of.
raw_tags: with a reflexive pronoun
Synonyms: word: agree with
word: approbate
word: approve
word: back
word: support
word: think much of
Hypernyms: word: admire
word: revere
Hyponyms: word: cheer
word: eulogise
word: glorify
word: proselytize
Derived terms: approbation
approvable
approvably
approval
approved school
approvee
approvement
approver
disapprove
foreapprove
I approve this message
preapprove
reapprove
unapprove
Related terms: word: praise