proof of concept

noun

plural proofs of concept

: something that demonstrates the feasibility of a concept (such as a product idea or a business plan)

Even if it succeeds, the $5.9 billion reactor will be just a proof of concept, with commercial fusion power still decades away.

—Corey S. Powell

Malware and virus-writing used to be something hobbyist hackers did for fun, as proofs of concept. Not anymore.

—Mat Honan

—often hyphenated when used before another noun

No invention is worth anything without the proof-of-concept prototype.

—Shintaro Osano

… proof-of-concept experiments funded with public money and years away from any commercial application, were sponsored by university biology departments.

—Andrew Curry

Examples of proof of concept in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s been roughly a two and a half to three year journey to go from proof of concept scientific validation (DishBrain) to a commercial product (CL1). —Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2025

But, right now, there is no proof of concept. —Andrew Marchand, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025

My mom, to show how far she’s come, played herself in the proof of concept for The Comic Shop. —Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025

Snowpiercer, Quinn’s first collaboration with Bong Joon Ho, provided proof of concept. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above