Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AP-PROVE', v.t. [Fr. approuver; L. approbo; of ad and probo, to prove or approve. See Approbate, Prove, and Proof.]

1. To like; to be pleased with; to admit the propriety of; as, we approve the measures of administration. This word may include, with the assent of the mind to the propriety, a commendation to others.
2. To prove; to show to be true; to justify. Would'st thou approve thy constancy? Approve first thy wisdom. – Milton. [This sense, though common a century or two ago, is now rare.]
3. To experience; to prove by trial. [Not used. See Prove.] – Shak.
4. To make or show to be worthy of approbation; to commend. Jesus, a man approved of God. Acts ii. This word seems to include the idea of Christ's real office, as the Messiah, and of God's love and approbation of him in that character. – Brown's Dict.
5. To like and sustain as right; to commend. Yet their posterity approve their sayings. Ps. xlix. This word, when it signifies to be pleased, is often followed by of, in which use, it is intransitive; as, I approve of the measure. But the tendency of modern usage is to omit of: “I approve the measure.”
6. To improve. – Blackstone.