Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Approbation

Ap′pro·ba′tion (ăp′prō·bā′shŭn), n. [L. approbatio: cf. F. approbation. See Approve to prove.] 1. Proof; attestation. [Obs.] Shak.

2. The act of approving; an assenting to the propriety of a thing with some degree of pleasure or satisfaction; approval; sanction; commendation.

Many . . . joined in a loud hum of approbation. Macaulay.

The silent approbation of one's own breast. Melmoth.

Animals . . . love approbation or praise. Darwin.

3. Probation or novitiate. [Obs.]

This day my sister should the cloister enter, And there receive her approbation. Shak.

Syn. — Approval; liking; sanction; consent; concurrence. — Approbation, Approval. Approbation and approval have the same general meaning, assenting to or declaring as good, sanction, commendation; but approbation is stronger and more positive. "We may be anxious for the approbation of our friends; but we should be still more anxious for the approval of our own consciences." "He who is desirous to obtain universal approbation will learn a good lesson from the fable of the old man and his ass." "The work has been examined by several excellent judges, who have expressed their unqualified approval of its plan and execution."

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.