Meaning

noun an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities

noun a flexible slender surgical instrument with a blunt end that is used to explore wounds or body cavities

noun an exploratory action or expedition

originFor verb: borrowed from Latin probare (“to test, examine, prove”), from probus (“good”). Doublet of prove. For noun: borrowed from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from probare (“to test, examine, prove”); Doublet of proof. Compare Spanish tienta (“a surgeon's probe”), from tentar (“try, test”); see tempt.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0