Definition of APPROBATION (original) (raw)

: an act of approving formally or officially

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Approbation is similar in meaning to approval, and it is also very close to approval etymologically. Both words trace back to the Latin verb approbare, which means “to prove” or “to approve.” Approbation meant “proof” when it first appeared in English in the 1300s, and by the early 1500s it had come to refer to the act of formally or officially approving something, a sense it still retains in certain church-related contexts. Today, however, we mostly use approbation in the looser sense of “approval, admiration, or praise.” The related verb approbate means “to approve or sanction,” and the adjective approbatory means “expressing approval or commendation.”

Synonyms

Examples of approbation in a Sentence

The company has even received the approbation of its former critics. that plan has the approbation of the school board

Recent Examples on the Web

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On the floor, Biles’ every routine Tuesday received a studied silence, and every landing received raucous approbation. —Brendan Quinn, The Athletic, 30 July 2024 But where the standard Meyers heroine would fuss herself into a fugue state of approbation, Anne remains oddly unruffled. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 29 June 2024 When a substitute teacher at my high school referenced Infowars during class, my friends and I discussed it later with approbation. —Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 17 June 2024 Saakashvili sought approbation from Western press and American politicians, but that doesn't lessen his achievements. —Natalia Antelava, Foreign Affairs, 9 Dec. 2013 See all Example Sentences for approbation