It is usually used as a noun used to describe a person, and comes from Middle English, with Latin origins.
In Middle English it was taken as simply "condemned" or "reproved". It derived from the Latin word reprobtus, which is one of the verb forms (past participle) of reprobre, which means to reprove.
Reprove is basically to admonish someone because you disapprove of what they have done (the opposite would be to praise or approve).
Nowadays, a reprobate is taken to mean someone without moral principles. In a Christian context, it would be used to describe someone who is damned to go to Hell (even God has given up on them), because of their innate inability to adhere to any moral standards.
Reprobate can also be used as a verb, meaning: to condemn, to reprove, to disapprove, to be abandoned by God.
Reprobate is related to the words probation & probationer. Both words refer to the idea of a person in a state where they have to prove themselves to be able to conform to certain moral standards.
In Middle English it was taken as simply "condemned" or "reproved". It derived from the Latin word reprobtus, which is one of the verb forms (past participle) of reprobre, which means to reprove.
Reprove is basically to admonish someone because you disapprove of what they have done (the opposite would be to praise or approve).
Nowadays, a reprobate is taken to mean someone without moral principles. In a Christian context, it would be used to describe someone who is damned to go to Hell (even God has given up on them), because of their innate inability to adhere to any moral standards.
Reprobate can also be used as a verb, meaning: to condemn, to reprove, to disapprove, to be abandoned by God.
Reprobate is related to the words probation & probationer. Both words refer to the idea of a person in a state where they have to prove themselves to be able to conform to certain moral standards.