Other forms: disproved, disproving, disproves
To disprove is to show that something is not true. Disprove the theory, disproved by evidence, impossible to disprove.
One counterexample disproves a universal claim, which is why disproving is so much easier than proving — and why Popper made falsifiability the test of a scientific statement. A claim that cannot be disproved by any evidence is not doing scientific work. Note disproof; and that disprove and disapprove are different words, one about truth and one about opinion.
1verbdisproveTo show that something is not true.
“The experiment disproved the old belief that heavy objects fall faster than light ones.”
disprove is a refuting.
Old French desprover is des- plus prover, from Latin probare, to test or prove. Probe, probable and proof come from the same testing.
Old French
desprover
Middle English
disproven
English, today
disprove
From Middle English disproven, dispreven, from Old French desprover, from des- + prover, equivalent to dis- + prove.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA