proven
/ˈpɹuː.vn̩/
"proven" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“proven” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,111 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #4,111
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having been proved; having proved its value or truth.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | proven |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpɹuː.vn̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,111 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “proven” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for proven is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɹuː.vn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,111 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Having been proved; having proved its value or truth.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for proven, with forms such as "porven", "pproven", and "proevn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "Provo", "proves", "proving", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scottish English, as past participle of preve, a Middle English variant of prove – compare woven (from weave) and cloven (from cleave), both of which feature -eve → -oven. Preve died out in England, but survived in Scotland, where proven developed, ini… The correct English form is proven, spelled P-R-O-V-E-N.
Definition
- 1Having been proved; having proved its value or truth.
Etymology
From Scottish English, as past participle of preve, a Middle English variant of prove – compare woven (from weave) and cloven (from cleave), both of which feature -eve → -oven. Preve died out in England, but survived in Scotland, where proven developed, initially in a legal context, as in “The jury ruled that the charges were not proven.” See usage notes for historical usage patterns. Earlier, from Late Latin probō (“test, try, examine, approve, show to be good or fit, prove”, verb), from Latin probus (“good, worthy, excellent”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰuH-s (“being in front, prominent”), from *pro-, *per- (“toward”) + *bʰuH- (“to be”). Morphologically prove + -n.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: porven,pproven,proevn,provenn,provne,provven,prroven,prvoen,rpoven
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of proven - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “proven”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-O-V-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɹuː.vn̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Provo” - see the side-by-side comparison. proven vs Provo
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.