approved

1. 1
   officially allowedverb

   Simple past and past participle of approve.

   The council approved the construction permit after a long debate.

   Voters approved the measure by a wide margin.

   UsageApproved a plan usually means gave official permission; approved of someone or something means thought them good.

   Note

   One spelling serves both the simple past (the council approved the permit) and the participle that builds perfects and passives (the permit has been approved; it was approved). Placed before a noun, as in an approved supplier, it crosses into the adjective of official acceptance. The verb behind it has older uses too, including a manorial one: a lord who approved common land turned it to his own profit. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Approved is both the simple past and past participle of approve. en.wiktionary.org
   • Approve had a manorial meaning referring to converting common land to the lord's own profit. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   officially allowedadjective

   Officially accepted or sanctioned after receiving formal approval.

   The committee circulated a list of approved suppliers.

   Each approved candidate received a formal letter confirming their place.

   Similarauthorized, accredited, certified, accepted, recognized

   Oppositeunapproved, unauthorized, unofficial

3. 3
   tried and testedadjectivearchaic

   Proven or shown to be reliable through actual experience; tried and tested.

   Now woorthy Tamburlaine, haue I repoſ’d, In thy approoued Fortunes all my hope, What thinkſt thou man, ſhal come of our attempts?

   c. 1587, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part

   Note

   The older meaning keeps the verb's root idea of proof. Approve once meant "to make proof of, to demonstrate", so an approved thing had been tested, not merely accepted. Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great (c. 1587–1588) speaks of "approoued Fortunes": luck already shown in action. Read it this way in older texts, but in modern writing prefer proven or tried and tested, since readers will hear the official sense instead. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Approve historically meant to demonstrate or prove something, supporting the note's connection with proof. en.wiktionary.org
   • Approved historically meant proven through experience. en.wiktionary.org
   • Tamburlaine the Great is by Christopher Marlowe. rsc.org.uk
   • The play can be dated approximately 1587–1588 by composition. rsc.org.uk
   • The play contains the exact wording 'approoued Fortunes' as an example of the historical sense. en.wiktionary.org

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