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 Asano

… 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

The first two houses, Sanderson said, are essentially being built as proof of concept. — Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 26 July 2026

This isn’t just a ‘proof of concept’ announcement, either; the brands will be putting on a full working demonstration of their latest audio system in action at the upcoming Audio Advice Live 2026 show. — John Archer, Forbes.com, 25 July 2026

Martinez set up a puesto (stall) in Sylmar as proof of concept while focusing on catering orders for film studios. — Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2026

The demonstration served as a proof of concept for the company`s Sea Sphere deployable sonar system. — Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 24 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above