probation

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: pro=ba=tion

CIDE DICTIONARY

probation, n. [L. probatio, fr. probare to try, examine, prove: cf. F. probation. See Prove.].

•  The act of proving; also, that which proves anything; proof.  [1913 Webster]

  "When by miracle God dispensed great gifts to the laity, . . . he gave probation that he intended that all should prophesy and preach."  [1913 Webster]
•  Any proceeding designed to ascertain truth, to determine character, qualification, etc.; examination; trial; as, to engage a person on probation.  [1913 Webster]

  "No [view of human life] seems so reasonable as that which regards it as a state of probation."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

probation, n.
1 Law a system of suspending the sentence on an offender subject to a period of good behaviour under supervision.
2 a process or period of testing the character or abilities of a person in a certain role, esp. of a new employee.
3 a moral trial or discipline.

Idiom

on probation undergoing probation, esp. legal supervision. probation officer an official supervising offenders on probation.

Derivative

probational adj. probationary adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF probation or L probatio (as PROVE)

THESAURUS

probation

acid test, assay, blank determination, brouillon, criterion, crucial test, crucible, determination, docimasy, essay, feeling out, first draft, kiteflying, ordeal, proof, rough draft, rough sketch, sounding out, standard, test, test case, touchstone, trial, try, verification

ROGET THESAURUS

probation

Essay

N essay, trial, endeavor, attempt, aim, struggle, venture, adventure, speculation, coup d'essai, debut, probation, essaying, experimental, tentative, empirical, probationary, experimentally, on trial, at a venture, by rule of thumb, if one may be so bold, aut non tentaris aut perfice, chi non s'arrischia non guadagna.

Experiment

N experiment, essay, analysis, screen, trial, tentative method, t=atonnement, verification, probation, experimentum crucis, proof, (demonstration), criterion, diagnostic, test, probe, crucial test, acid test, litmus test, crucible, reagent, check, touchstone, pix, assay, ordeal, ring, litmus paper, curcuma paper, turmeric paper, test tube, analytical instruments, empiricism, rule of thumb, feeler, trial balloon, pilot balloon, messenger balloon, pilot engine, scout, straw to show the wind, speculation, random shot, leap in the dark, analyzer, analyst, assayist, adventurer, experimenter, experimentist, experimentalist, scientist, engineer, technician, subject, experimentee, guinea pig, experimental animal, protocol, experimental method, blind experiment, double-blind experiment, controlled experiment, poll, survey, opinion poll, epidemiological survey, retrospective analysis, retrospective survey, prospective survey, prospective analysis, statistical analysis, literature search, library research, tryout, audition, discovery, measurement, evidence, deduction, induction, abduction, experimental, empirical, probative, probatory, probationary, provisional, analytic, docimastic, tentative, unverified, unproven, speculative, untested, on trial, under examination, on probation, under probation, on one's trial, on approval, check it out, give it a try, see how it goes, Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.

Demonstration

N demonstration, proof, rigorous proof, conclusiveness, apodeixis, apodixis, probation, comprobation, logic of facts, experimentum crucis, argument, rigorous establishment, absolute establishment, conviction, cogency, (persuasion), demonstrating, demonstrative, demonstrable, probative, unanswerable, conclusive, apodictic, apodeictic, apodeictical, irresistible, irrefutable, irrefragable, necessary, categorical, decisive, crucial, demonstrated, proven, unconfuted, unanswered, unrefuted, evident, deducible, consequential, consectary, inferential, following, convincing, cogent, persuasive (believable), of course, in consequence, consequently, as a matter of course, necessarily, of necessity, probatum est, there is nothing more to be said, quod est demonstrandum, Q, E, D, it must follow, exitus acta probat.