Past tense of prove; demonstrated the truth or validity of something through evidence or argument.
From Old French 'prover' and Latin 'probare' meaning to test, examine, or approve. The root 'prob-' relates to honesty and testing, giving us related words like 'probable' and 'probe'.
The phrase 'the exception that proves the rule' seems contradictory until you realize that 'proves' here uses the older meaning of 'tests' rather than 'demonstrates as true.' This linguistic fossil preserves how our ancestors thought about verification and testing.
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