In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
PROVE
prove, demonstrate, establish, show, shew
(verb) establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment; “The experiment demonstrated the instability of the compound”; “The mathematician showed the validity of the conjecture”
prove
(verb) prove formally; demonstrate by a mathematical, formal proof
prove
(verb) obtain probate of; “prove a will”
testify, bear witness, prove, evidence, show
(verb) provide evidence for; “The blood test showed that he was the father”; “Her behavior testified to her incompetence”
prove
(verb) take a trial impression of
raise, leaven, prove
(verb) cause to puff up with a leaven; “unleavened bread”
rise, prove
(verb) increase in volume; “the dough rose slowly in the warm room”
test, prove, try, try out, examine, essay
(verb) put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to; “This approach has been tried with good results”; “Test this recipe”
prove, turn out, turn up
(verb) be shown or be found to be; “She proved to be right”; “The medicine turned out to save her life”; “She turned up HIV positive”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
prove (third-person singular simple present proves, present participle proving, simple past proved, past participle proven or proved)
(transitive) To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for.
(intransitive) To turn out; to manifest.
(copulative) To turn out to be.
(transitive) To put to the test, to make trial of.
(transitive) To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.
(archaic, transitive) To experience.
(printing, dated, transitive) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.
Alternative form of proof (“allow (dough) to rise; test the activeness of (yeast)”)
Usage notes
As the past participle of prove, proven is sometimes still discouraged, and proved is preferred (“have proved” rather than “have proven”). However, they are both about equally common in US English, and both are used and considered correct in UK English. In UK English, “proved” is more common, but not, for example, in the very common expression “innocent until proven guilty” (rarely *“innocent until proved guilty”).
In addition, as an attributive adjective, proven is much more commonly used, and proved is widely proscribed – “a proven method”, not *“a proved method”.
Historically, proved is the older form, while proven arose as a Scottish variant – see etymology. Used in legal writing from the mid-17th century, it entered literary usage more slowly, only becoming significant in the 19th century, with the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson among the earliest frequent users (presumably for reasons of meter). In the 19th century, proven was widely discouraged, and remained significantly less common through the mid-20th century (proved being used approximately four times as often); by the late 20th century it came to be used about equally often in US English.
Noun
prove (plural proves)
(baking) The process of dough proofing.
Etymology 2
Verb
prove
simple past tense of proove
Anagrams
• Prevo, pervo
Source: Wiktionary
Prove, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Proved; p. pr. & vb. n. Proving.] Etym: [OE. prover, F. prouver, fr. L. probare to try, approve, prove, fr. probus good, proper. Cf. Probable, Proof, Probe.]
1. To try or to ascertain by an experiment, or by a test or standard; to test; as, to prove the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure. Thou hast proved mine heart. Ps. xvii. 3.
2. To evince, establish, or ascertain, as truth, reality, or fact, by argument, testimony, or other evidence. They have inferred much from slender premises, and conjectured when they could not prove. J. H. Newman.
3. To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify; as, to prove a will.
4. To gain experience of the good or evil of; to know by trial; to experience; to suffer. Where she, captived long, great woes did prove. Spenser.
5. (Arith.)
Definition: To test, evince, ascertain, or verify, as the correctness of any operation or result; thus, in subtraction, if the difference between two numbers, added to the lesser number, makes a sum equal to the greater, the correctness of the subtraction is proved.
6. (Printing)
Definition: To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of; as, to prove a page.
Syn.
– To try; verify; justify; confirm; establish; evince; manifest; show; demonstrate.
Prove, v. i.
1. To make trial; to essay.
2. To be found by experience, trial, or result; to turn out to be; as, a medicine proves salutary; the report proves false. "The case proves mortal." Arbuthnot. So life a winter's morn may prove. Keble.
3. To succeed; to turn out as expected. [Obs.] "The experiment proved not." Bacon.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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DECIDE
(verb) reach, make, or come to a decision about something; “We finally decided after lengthy deliberations”
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