—Usage note Either proved or proven is standard as the past participle of prove: Events have proved (or proven) him wrong. As a modifier, proven is by far the more common: a proven fact.
Usage Note: Prove has two past participles: proved and proven. Proved is the older form. Proven is a variant. The Middle English spellings of prove included preven, a form that died out in England but survived in Scotland, and the past participle proven, a form that probably rose by analogy with verbs like weave, woven and cleave, cloven. Proven was originally used in Scottish legal contexts, such as The jury ruled that the charges were not proven. In the 20th century, proven has made inroads into the territory once dominated by proved, so that now the two forms compete on equal footing as participles. However, when used as an adjective before a noun, proven is now the more common word: a proven talent.
capable of being demonstrated or proved; "obvious lies"; "a demonstrable lack of concern for the general welfare"; "practical truth provable to all men"- Walter Bagehot [syn: demonstrable]
Prob"a*ble\, a. [L. probabilis, fr. probare to try, approve, prove: cf. F. probable. See Prove, and cf. Provable.]1. Capable of being proved. [Obs.] 2. Having more evidence for than against; supported by evidence which inclines the mind to believe, but leaves some room for doubt; likely. That is accounted probable which has better arguments producible for it than can be brought against it. --South. I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have before asserted them to be morally certain. --Bp. Wilkins. 3. Rendering probable; supporting, or giving ground for, belief, but not demonstrating; as, probable evidence; probable presumption. --Blackstone. Probable cause (Law), a reasonable ground of presumption that a charge is, or my be, well founded. Probable error (of an observation, or of the mean of a number), that within which, taken positively and negatively, there is an even chance that the real error shall lie. Thus, if 3[sec] is the probable error in a given case, the chances that the real error is greater than 3[sec] are equal to the chances that it is less. The probable error is computed from the observations made, and is used to express their degree of accuracy. The probable, that which is within the bounds of probability; that which is not unnatural or preternatural; -- opposed to the marvelous.