▪ I. † ˈapprobate, ppl. a. Obs.
[ad. L. approbāt-us, pa. pple. of approbā-re to assent to as good, f. ap- = ad- to + probā-re to try the goodness of, f. prob-us good.]
Approved formally or expressly; particularly by some competent authority. (Used after formation of vb. approbate as its pa. pple.)
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas viii. xii. (1554) 183 b, That he in his estate By the Pope afore be approbate. 1547 Boorde Dyetary xvi. (1870) 272 Galen, with other auncyent and approbat doctours. 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 924/2 Decrees..which by long custome hath beene receiued and approbate. |
▪ II. approbate, v.
(ˈæprəbeɪt)
[f. prec.]
1. To approve expressly or formally; to express approbation of, sanction authoritatively. Obs. in England since 17th c., but preserved in U.S., and often used as simply = approve.
| 1470 Harding Chron. cvi, As Flores saieth, and hath it approbate. 1528 Roy Satire (Arb.) 91 Obedience and wil⁓full poverte Which allmyghty god doth approbate. 1557 Barclay Jugurtha (Paynell) 42 Whether they wold approbate and alowe the sayd composicion. 1623 Cockeram, Approbate, to allow, to like. 1833 Gen. P. Thompson Idioms of America in Exerc. (1842) III. 470 There are many Americanisms which in the course of time will work their way into the language of England..The verbs ‘approbate,’ ‘consider’ (in the sense of ‘believe’), and even ‘guess,’ are making their way gradually in their peculiar senses. 1849 in Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. V. 52 A letter approbating the affair. |
2. Sc. Law. To approve or assent to as valid. Chiefly in phr. to approbate and reprobate: to take advantage of those portions of a deed which are in one's favour, while repudiating the rest. Also transf.
| 1836 Blackw. Mag. XXXIX. 662 You cannot approbate and reprobate the same instrument. 1836–7 Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. xv. (1870) 280, I approbate the one, I reprobate the other. 1880 Law Rep., Appeal V. 325 He is in substance..approbating and reprobating, a course which is not allowed either in Scotch or English Law. |