approve
Formsapproves, approving, approved
- 1To officially sanction or confirm something, accepting it as satisfactory.
Regulators must approve the drug before it can be sold.
The board approved the merger after months of review.
Similarauthorize, sanction, endorse, ratify, pass
Oppositereject, veto, refuse, block
Note
Every older meaning of the verb traces back to Latin approbō, built from ad- and probō, "to esteem as good, prove." English also borrowed that Latin verb directly as approbate, a doublet of approve. In this official sense the verb takes its object directly: a court approves a sentence, and a state-approved body has been sanctioned. Nobody here merely "approves of" anything.
- 2To regard something or someone as good; to commend or think well of it.
Most teachers approve methods that keep students engaged.
She approved his decision to leave the firm.
Similarendorse, favor, support, commend, applaud
Oppositecondemn, criticize, deplore, oppose
Note
Here approving is a private judgment rather than an official act, yet it keeps the direct object of the official sense: we approve the measure. The quick test is the word of. Without it, the sentence commends the thing on its merits. With it, as in the "approve of" construction, it reports a personal liking or acceptance.
- 3To consider someone or something worthy; to be pleased with or accept it.
Voters generally approve of policies that lower their taxes.
Her father never approved of her career in theater.
Similarfavor, support, like, accept, welcome
Oppositedisapprove, object, oppose
Note
The construction for personal judgment always brings of: voters approve of a policy, a mother approves of a suitor. It runs unchanged from Swift in 1758 through Macaulay to The Verve in 1995. It sits naturally in the negative, as in never approves of, had not approved of and didn't approve of. There it names disapproval that is felt, not a ruling that is made.
- 4To convert land, especially waste or common land, to one's own profit, as a manorial lord might appropriate it.
The manor lord approved several acres of common ground, enclosing them for pasture.
Tenants protested when the baron tried to approve the marsh they had long grazed.
Similarappropriate
Note
A separate word that happens to share the spelling. It comes through Old French aprouer from a root in Latin prōsum, "to be useful or profitable," and is kin to improve rather than to prove. In English law it names a manorial lord turning waste or common land to his own profit. In that setting, read it as "make profitable," never "sanction."
Less common meanings
- 5To make proof of something; to demonstrate or prove it practically.
He approved his loyalty through years of faithful service.
He had approved himself a great warrior.
1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession Of James IINote
Here the verb keeps the other half of its Latin root: probō meant both "esteem as good" and "prove." To approve a quality is to show it in action. In Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764) a man burns "to approve his valour," and Macaulay writes that someone "had approved himself a great warrior." Readers of older prose should watch for that reflexive pattern. In modern writing, prove or demonstrate does this work.
- 6To show someone or something to be worthy; to demonstrate the merits of it.
He approved himself a loyal friend during the family's hardest years.
The first care and concern must be to approve himself to God.
a. 1729, John Rogers, The Duty and Advantageous of Trust in GodNote
A reflexive construction: one approved oneself to someone, earning their good opinion through conduct, as in John Rogers's "to approve himself to God." It shades into the archaic "prove" meaning, where Macaulay's man "had approved himself a great warrior." The to-phrase marks this one, because it names whose esteem is won. Like its neighbor, it belongs to older prose and is better quoted than imitated.
Practice
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Origins
This sense comes from Latin 'approbo', formed from 'ad' plus 'probo' ("to esteem as good, approve, prove"). It reached English through Old French 'aprover' and Middle English 'aproven'. It is a doublet of 'approbate'.
This sense comes from Middle English 'approuen', from Old French 'aprouer', built on 'a-' plus a form apparently derived from the 'pro, prod' in Latin 'prosum' ("be useful or profitable"). Compare 'improve'.