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

So, Democrats often push - point to your state as proof of concept that this is a galvanizing issue across party lines. —CBS News, 11 Aug. 2024

As a proof of concept, ProRata is launching its own subscription chatbot-style search engine in October. —Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 8 Aug. 2024

Amazon followed in April, announcing $500,000 in credits to Y Combinator companies, including $200,000 in cloud credits and $300,000 in credits for proofs of concept using the cloud provider’s Trainium and Inferentia chips for AI, an AWS spokesperson said in an email. —Jordan Novet, CNBC, 2 Aug. 2024

But the current system serves as a proof of concept for the novel design. —Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 5 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above