To Prove

1. (transitive) To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for.
2. (intransitive) To turn out; to manifest.
3. (copulative) To turn out to be.
4. (transitive) To put to the test, to make trial of.
5. (transitive) To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.
6. (archaic, transitive) To experience.
7. (printing, dated, transitive) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.
8. Alternative form of proof (“allow (dough) to rise; test the activeness of (yeast)”)

As the past participle of prove, proven is sometimes still discouraged, and proved is preferred (“have proved” rather than “have proven”). However, they are both about equally common in US English, and both are used and considered correct in UK English. In UK English, “proved” is more common,[1][2][3] but not, for example, in the very common expression “innocent until proven guilty” (rarely *“innocent until proved guilty”).

In addition, as an attributive adjective, proven is much[3][1] more commonly used,[2] and proved is widely proscribed – “a proven method”, not *“a proved method”.

Historically, proved is the older form, while proven arose as a Scottish variant – see etymology. Used in legal writing from the mid-17th century, it entered literary usage more slowly, only becoming significant in the 19th century, with the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson among the earliest frequent users (presumably for reasons of meter).[3] In the 19th century, proven was widely discouraged, and remained significantly less common through the mid-20th century (proved being used approximately four times as often); by the late 20th century it came to be used about equally often in US English.[3]