Is "proof" an acceptable synonym for "proofread"?

Question

I did not find "proofread" as a synonym when I looked up "proof", and this would lead me to think not. But I do like to shorten the word -- will people understand me if I do?

At https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteers%27_FAQ#V.1._How_do_I_get_started_as_a_Project_Gutenberg_volunteer.3F there is a verb, to proof, and I wonder if they're using it the way I've been wanting to do.

In the printing biz, "proof" is the term used to describe a pre-publication copy of a publication, one that is intended to be proofread. — Hot Licks, Feb 16 '18 at 03:13
Ninja'd! I was going to add, though, that the word is often used like a verb in “the biz”, to mean the creation of the proof (n.), usually as proofing or the proofing process as here. — Will Crawford, Feb 16 '18 at 03:16
See the related usage of the verb proof, as well as What is Copy-Editing?. — Arm the good guys in America, Feb 16 '18 at 04:34
@HotLicks - I'm familiar with that but I'm trying to use it as a verb. — aparente001, Feb 16 '18 at 06:39
I just looked up ‘proof’ in five different online dictionaries. The meaning ‘proofread’ is listed in every one of them. — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Feb 16 '18 at 07:11
@JanusBahsJacquet - Glad to hear it. If you wouldn't mind mentioning one, your comment would be even more useful, and wouldn't run the risk of coming off snide. — aparente001, Feb 16 '18 at 15:22
Oxford Dictionaries Online (sense 2.1), Merriam-Webster (sense 1.b), Wiktionary (sense 1), American Heritage Dictionary (v.intr. 1), Collins (sense 14), dictionary.com (sense 25)… the only online dictionary I’ve found that doesn’t have this sense is Cambridge. — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Feb 16 '18 at 15:34
@JanusBahsJacquet - Exhaustive research like that, if put in an Answer, would be a constructive contribution. Greg has provided a convenient structure. — aparente001, Feb 16 '18 at 16:00
@aparente001 The reason I didn’t put it as an answer, but instead voted to close the question as off-topic, is that looking in a good dictionary or two is research that’s expected to be carried out by the asker, before answering the question; this expectation is even stronger with a long-time member such as yourself. Questions which do not include such basic research (even the dictionary Google’s “define X” function uses has this sense) should not, in my opinion, be provided with answers here, but instead closed. An answer would have been counter-constructive (to the site) in my view. — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Feb 16 '18 at 16:04
@JanusBahsJacquet - Your comment sent me in a more productive research direction and I was able to answer my own question, so I turned Greg's stub into a proper answer. Then you did more research, making me feel even more stupid. But the site software discouraged me from deleting the question. Happy now? — aparente001, Feb 16 '18 at 16:14
I used to work for a Canadian publisher and "proof" was the verb normally used. "Proof read" wasn't common. — Al Maki, Feb 16 '18 at 16:17

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 16 '18 at 15:24

0

Yes, it's an acceptable synonym.

For example, Merriam-Webster:

to proof: proofread (definition 1b)

edited Feb 16 '18 at 15:24

aparente001

21,530

answered Feb 16 '18 at 14:25

Greg Lee

17,406

Is "proof" an acceptable synonym for "proofread"?

1 Answers1