The Collaborative International Dictionary
Probative \Pro"ba*tive\, a. [L. probativus: cf. F. probatif.]
Serving for trial or proof; probationary; as, probative
judgments; probative evidence.
--South.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-15c., from Latin probativus "belonging to proof," from probat-, past participle stem of probare (see prove).
Wiktionary
a. (context legal lang=zh) Tending to prove a particular proposition or to persuade someone of the truth of an allegation.
WordNet
adj. tending to prove a particular proposition or to persuade you of the truth of an allegation
Usage examples of "probative".
Commission to attach some probative value to the fingerprint and palmprint identifications in reaching the conclusion that Oswald was present at the window from which the shots were fired, although the prints do not establish the exact time he was there.
But our courts of law (at least those in English-speaking countries) are devised and organized, perhaps unfortunately, on the principle that testimony not apparently deduced by the syllogistic method from the observation of relevant fact is valueless, and hence woman at the very outset is placed at a disadvantage and her usefulness as a probative force sadly crippled.