approuvés

Approuvés is the plural masculine form of the past participle of the French verb approuver. In French, approuvé can function as an adjective meaning “approved” or as part of compound verb tenses. The form approuvés specifically modifies masculine plural nouns and is used to indicate that something has received formal consent or authorization from an authority. Common contexts include government, administration, business, education and publishing, where documents, proposals, budgets or plans are described as approuvés.

Grammatical notes: As an adjective or participle, approuvés agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number (approuvée, approuvés, approuvées). In compound tenses formed with the auxiliary avoir, the participle may agree with a preceding direct object (par exemple, les documents que j'ai approuvés). With être, the agreement follows the subject. The term is often contrasted with non approuvés or en attente d’approbation.

Etymology and usage: approuvés derives from the verb approuver, which itself comes from Latin approbare (ad + probare, “to prove” or “to prove acceptable”). The related noun approbation denotes formal approval or endorsement. In English, the closest equivalents are “approved” or “approved documents,” depending on context.

See also: approuver, approbation, validation, autorisation.