corroborant

English

Etymology

From Latin corroborans, present participle. See corroborate.

Adjective

corroborant (comparative more corroborant, superlative most corroborant)

1. strengthening; supporting; corroborating
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “X. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     There be divers sorts of bracelets fit to comfort the spirits ; and they be of three intentions ; refrigerant , corroborant , and aperient

Noun

corroborant (plural corroborants)

1. Anything that gives strength or support; a tonic.
   • 1778, William Lewis, The New Dispensatory, page 91:

     The sensible qualities of argentina promise no great virtue of this kind; for to the taste it discovers only a slight roughishness, from whence it may be presumed to be entitled to a place only among the milder corroborants.

   • 1847, Robert Southey, “Chapter CCXVII. Some Account of D. Oliva Sabuco’s Medical Theories and Practice.”, in John Wood Warter, editor, The Doctor, &c., volume VII, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 186:

     Next to this it is imported to comfort the stomach, and to cherish the root of man, that is to say the brain, with its proper corroborants, especially with sweet odours and with music.

2. A piece of corroborating evidence.
   • 1829, Robert Southey, Poetical Works of Robert Southey, page 473:

     As a scrupulous and faithful antiquary, Morales was accustomed to require evidence, and to investigate it; and for these he could find no other testimony than tradition and antiquity, which, as presumptive proofs, were strong corroborants of faith, but did not suffice of themselves.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “corroborant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Catalan

Verb

corroborant

1. gerund of corroborar

French

Participle

corroborant

1. present participle of corroborer

Further reading

• “corroborant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Verb

corrōborant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of corrōborō