Approbation

Word of the Day for Monday, February 8, 2010

approbation \ap-ruh-BAY-shuhn\, noun:
1. The act of approving; formal or official approval.
2. Praise; commendation.

The speech struck a responsive chord among many and won him much approbation.
-- George Bush and Brent Scowcroft, A World Transformed

More importantly, these drawings represented a first success, which brought the intoxicating rewards of approbation and cash.
-- Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography

To some of his contemporaries, the episode seemed more the schemings of someone craving attention and the approbation of his peers than an act of sabotage.
-- Richard Siklos, Shades of Black

Approbation is from Latin approbatio, from approbare, "to approve or cause to be approved," from ap- (for ad-), used intensively + probare, "to make or find good," from probus, "good, excellent, fine."

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