The Greek adjective dokimos (δόκιμος) means approved, tested, or proven — one who has passed examination and been found genuine. The word derives from dokeo (to think/seem) but in its testing sense refers to what has been put through a refining process and found authentic. It appears seven times in the New Testament.
Dokimos is the language of the assayer's craft — testing metal to determine its purity and worth. Paul uses it to describe the approved workman in 2 Timothy 2:15 and the approved standing before God that comes through endurance. In Romans 16:10, he greets Apelles as 'approved in Christ' (ton dokimon en Christō). James 1:12 promises that the one who endures testing will receive the crown of life. The New Testament theology of dokimos is that trials are not punishments but divine refining — each test passed deepens one's proven character and approves the believer before God.