Edit page | Page history | Printable version

propriety

1. Individual right to hold property; ownership by personal title; property. Onles this propriety be exiled. So are the proprieties of a wife to be disposed of by her lord, and yet all are for her provisions, it being a part of his need to refresh and supply hers. (Jer. Taylor)

2. That which is proper or peculiar; an inherent property or quality; peculiarity. We find no mention hereof in ancient zoographers, . . . Who seldom forget proprieties of such a nature. (Sir T. Browne)

3. The quality or state of being proper; suitableness to an acknowledged or correct standard or rule; consonance with established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness; as, propriety of behavior, language, manners, etc. The rule of propriety,

Origin: F. Propriete, L. Proprietas, fr. Proprius one's own, proper. See Property, Proper.