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v. t. [ OF. aprouer; a (L. ad) + a form apparently derived fr. the pro, prod, in L. prodest it is useful or profitable, properly the preposition pro for. Cf. Improve. ] (Eng. Law) To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit; -- said esp. of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. So as to secure approbation; in an approved manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Obs. ] 1. Approbation. [ 1913 Webster ]

I did nothing without your approvement. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eng. Law) a confession of guilt by a prisoner charged with treason or felony, together with an accusation of his accomplish and a giving evidence against them in order to obtain his own pardon. The term is no longer in use; it corresponded to what is now known as turning king's (or queen's) evidence in England, and state's evidence in the United States. Burrill. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Old Eng. Law) Improvement of common lands, by inclosing and converting them to the uses of husbandry for the advantage of the lord of the manor. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who approves. Formerly, one who made proof or trial. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An informer; an accuser. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eng. Law) One who confesses a crime and accuses another. See 1st Approvement, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 2d Approve, v. t. ] (Eng. Law) A bailiff or steward; an agent. [ Obs. ] Jacobs. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Counterproved p. pr. & vb. n. Counterproving. ] To take a counter proof of, or a copy in reverse, by taking an impression directly from the face of an original. See Counter proof, under Counter. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disapproved p. pr. & vb. n. Disapproving. ] [ Pref. dis- + approve: cf. F. déapprouver. Cf. Disapprobation. ] 1. To pass unfavorable judgment upon; to condemn by an act of the judgment; to regard as wrong, unsuitable, or inexpedient; to censure; as, to disapprove the conduct of others. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To refuse official approbation to; to disallow; to decline to sanction; as, the sentence of the court-martial was disapproved by the commander in chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This verb is often followed by of; as, to disapprove of an opinion, of such conduct. See Approve. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who disapproves. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make worse; -- the opposite of improve. [ R. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To grow worse; to deteriorate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Reduction from a better to a worse state; as, disimprovement of the earth; specific features which are worse than former features; disimprovements in the new Windows operating system. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disproved p. pr. & vb. n. Disproving. ] [ Pref. dis- + prove: cf. OF. desprover. ] 1. To prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute. [ 1913 Webster ]

That false supposition I advanced in order to disprove it. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To disallow; to disapprove of. [ Obs. ] Stirling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who disproves or confutes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. im- not + prove: cf. L. improbare, F. improuver. ] 1. To disprove or make void; to refute. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Neither can any of them make so strong a reason which another can not improve. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To disapprove; to find fault with; to reprove; to censure; as, to improve negligence. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

When he rehearsed his preachings and his doing unto the high apostles, they could improve nothing. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Improved p. pr. & vb. n. Improving. ] [ Pref. in- in + prove, in approve. See Approve, Prove. ] 1. To make better; to increase the value or good qualities of; to ameliorate by care or cultivation; as, to improve land. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

I love not to improve the honor of the living by impairing that of the dead. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To use or employ to good purpose; to make productive; to turn to profitable account; to utilize; as, to improve one's time; to improve his means. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

We shall especially honor God by improving diligently the talents which God hath committed to us. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

A hint that I do not remember to have seen opened and improved. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

The court seldom fails to improve the opportunity. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those moments were diligently improved. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

True policy, as well as good faith, in my opinion, binds us to improve the occasion. Washington. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To advance or increase by use; to augment or add to; -- said with reference to what is bad. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

We all have, I fear, . . . not a little improved the wretched inheritance of our ancestors. Bp. Porteus.

Syn. -- To better; meliorate; ameliorate; advance; heighten; mend; correct; rectify; amend; reform. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To grow better; to advance or make progress in what is desirable; to make or show improvement; as, to improve in health. [ 1913 Webster ]

We take care to improve in our frugality and diligence. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To advance or progress in bad qualities; to grow worse. “Domitian improved in cruelty.” Milner. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To increase; to be enhanced; to rise in value; as, the price of cotton improves. [ 1913 Webster ]

To improve on or
To improve upon, to make useful additions or amendments to, or changes in; to bring nearer to perfection; as, to improve on the mode of tillage. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. advanced to a more desirable or valuable or excellent state. Opposite of unimproved. [ Narrower terms: built, reinforced; cleared, tilled ; developed; grade ; graded, graveled ] Also See: restored. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. changed for the better; as, her improved behavior.
Syn. -- amended. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

I look upon your city as the best place of improvement. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties. Blair. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of making profitable use or applicaton of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a turning to good account; practical application, as of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse. “A good improvement of his reason.” S. Clarke. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall make some improvement of this doctrine. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also, that which is improved; as, the new edition is an improvement on the old. [ 1913 Webster ]

The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Increase; growth; progress; advance. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is a design of publishing the history of architecture, with its several improvements and decays. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on land or premises; as, to convey the land together with all improvements. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Patent Laws) A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, improves. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To use for a bad purpose; to abuse; to misuse; as, to misimprove time, talents, advantages, etc. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ill use or employment; use for a bad purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Proved p. pr. & vb. n. Proving. ] [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast proved mine heart. Ps. xvii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To evince, establish, or ascertain, as truth, reality, or fact, by argument, testimony, or other evidence. [ 1913 Webster ]

They have inferred much from slender premises, and conjectured when they could not prove. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify; as, to prove a will. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To gain experience of the good or evil of; to know by trial; to experience; to suffer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where she, captived long, great woes did prove. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Arith.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Printing) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of; as, to prove a page. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To try; verify; justify; confirm; establish; evince; manifest; show; demonstrate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To make trial; to essay. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

So life a winter's morn may prove. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To succeed; to turn out as expected. [ Obs. ] “The experiment proved not.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. provectus, p. p. of provehere to carry forward. ] Carried forward; advanced. [ Obs. ] “Provect in years.” Sir T. Flyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. provectio an advancement. ] (Philol.) A carrying forward, as of a final letter, to a following word; as, for example, a nickname for an ekename. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It. proveditore, provveditore, fr. provedere, L. providere. See Provide, and cf. Purveyor, Provedore. ] One employed to procure supplies, as for an army, a steamer, etc.; a purveyor; one who provides for another. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Sp. proveedor. See Proveditor. ] A proveditor; a purveyor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Busied with the duties of a provedore. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. or a. Proved. “Accusations firmly proven in his mind.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of this which was the principal charge, and was generally believed to beproven, he was acquitted. Jowett (Thucyd. ). [ 1913 Webster ]

Not proven (Scots Law), a verdict of a jury that the guilt of the accused is not made out, though not disproved. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. provenir to originate, to come forth, L. provenire. Cf. Provenience. ] Origin; source; provenience.

Their age attested by their provenance and associations. A. H. Keane. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖a. [ F., fr. Provence, fr. L. provincia province. See Provincial. ] Of or pertaining to Provence or its inhabitants. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ F. ] 1. A native or inhabitant of Provence in France. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The Provencal language. See Langue d'oc. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Provence the place + rose. ] (a) The cabbage rose (Rosa centifolia). (b) A name of many kinds of roses which are hybrids of Rosa centifolia and Rosa Gallica. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Provençal. ] Of or pertaining to Provence in France. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Provand. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. provende, F. provende, provisions, provender, fr. LL. praebenda (prae and pro being confused), a daily allowance of provisions, a prebend. See Prebend. ] 1. Dry food for domestic animals, as hay, straw, corn, oats, or a mixture of ground grain; feed. “Hay or other provender.” Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Good provender laboring horses would have. Tusser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Food or provisions. [ R or Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. proveniens, -entis, p.pr. of provenire to come forth; pro forth + venire to come. ] Origin; source; place where found or produced; provenance; -- used esp. in the fine arts and in archæology; as, the provenience of a patera. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. proveniens, p.pr. ] Forthcoming; issuing. [ Rare ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. See Provand. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Anat.) Proventriculus. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Pro-, and Ventricle. ] (Anat.) The glandular stomach of birds, situated just above the crop. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, proves. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. proverbe, F. proverbe, from L. proverbium; pro before, for + verbum a word. See Verb. ] 1. An old and common saying; a phrase which is often repeated; especially, a sentence which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical truth, or the result of experience and observation; a maxim; a saw; an adage. Chaucer. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable. [ 1913 Webster ]

His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. John xvi. 29. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations. Deut. xxviii. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A drama exemplifying a proverb. [ 1913 Webster ]

Book of Proverbs, a canonical book of the Old Testament, containing a great variety of wise maxims. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Maxim; aphorism; apothegm; adage; saw. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To name in, or as, a proverb. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool ? Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To provide with a proverb. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To write or utter proverbs. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. proverbialis: cf. F. proverbial. ] 1. Mentioned or comprised in a proverb; used as a proverb; hence, commonly known; as, a proverbial expression; his meanness was proverbial. [ 1913 Webster ]

In case of excesses, I take the German proverbial cure, by a hair of the same beast, to be the worst. Sir W. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to proverbs; resembling a proverb. “A proverbial obscurity.” Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A proverbial phrase. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who makes much use of proverbs in speech or writing; one who composes, collects, or studies proverbs. [ 1913 Webster ]