▪ I. proper, a. (adv., n.)
(ˈprɒpə(r))
Forms: 3–6 propre (4–6 propir(e, -yr(e, -ur(e, 6 propper), 4– proper.
[ME. propre, a. F. propre (11–12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.):—L. propri-us one's own, special, particular, peculiar, whence It., Sp., Pg. proprio.
The sense had already undergone great development in Latin, Romanic, and French, before the word was taken into Eng., where the chronological appearance of the senses does not correspond with the logical development. As it happens, our earliest evidence for the word appears in the adv. properly sense 3, corresp. to 10 of the adj.]
A. adj. I. 1. Belonging to oneself or itself; (one's or its) own; owned as property; that is the, or a, property or quality of the thing itself, intrinsic, inherent. Usually preceded by a possessive (cf. own a. 1); sometimes also by own. arch. exc. in special connexions (chiefly scientific).
proper motion (Astron.), that part of the apparent motion of a heavenly body (now usually of a ‘fixed’ star) supposed to be due to its actual movement in space; any observed motion of a star other than those due to the rotation of the earth, to parallax, and to aberration. in proper person (L. in propriā persōnā), in his (or one's) own person. † proper thing = one's own thing, a property.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 562 (Cott.) An saul has propre thinges [= properties] thre. Ibid. 18765 Wit his aun propur might, He stei up in þair aller sight. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 325 To haf in heritage,..als a propire þing, þat were conquest tille him. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4958 For to sytte in dome in proper parsoun. c 1400 Mandeville v. (1839) 37 With his own propre Swerd he was slayn. 1531 Tindale Expos. 1 John ii. 21 (1538) 46 b, Some call themselues poore, wythout hauynge ony thynge proper. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. vii. 141 This proper and equal motion of the heaven. Ibid. iv. xxxiii. 300 Neither have they any master to whom they are proper. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 60 Euen with such like valour, men hang, and drowne Their proper selues. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 700 The said leiger-book which was then my proper book, is now in Bodlies Library. 1718 G. Sewell Proclam. Cupid 9 Ill is the Bird that soils his proper Nest. 1783 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXIII. 267 Astronomers have..observed what they call a proper motion in several of the fixed stars. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxvi, To shroud me from my proper scorn. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. iii. 79 (transl. Dante) To judge..with my proper eyes. 1881 Piazzi Smyth in Nature XXIV. 430/1 He concludes that the cause of the ‘proper’ light of the comet is the illumination of its constituent molecules by electric discharge. 1893 Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 335 One of those stars which has a considerable proper motion. |
2. a. Belonging or relating to the person or thing in question distinctively (more than to any other), or exclusively (not to any other); special, particular, distinctive, characteristic; peculiar, restricted; private, individual; of its own. Opp. to common. Const. to.
In liturgies, applied to a service, psalm, lesson, etc., specially appointed for a particular day or season. (See also C. 2, and preface n. 1.) In quot. 1377, = several, separate, distinct: cf. properly 1 b.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24921 (Cott.) Sai me..qua[t]kinwise Of hir we sal mak þis seruis, Sin þar es propre nan i knau. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 237 Three propre persones, ac nouȝt in plurel noumbre, For al is but on god, and eche is god hymselue. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 100 The dreie Colre..his propre sete Hath in the galle. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 77 Þe folk of Caldee has a propre langage and propre lettres and figures. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Morn. Prayer, Then shal folow certaine Psalmes in ordre as they been appointed..except there be propre Psalmes appointed for that day. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 3 Their feet are proper, and not like mans,..for they are like great hands. 1672 Sir T. Browne Let. Friend §14 Endemial and local Infirmities proper unto certain Regions. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. i. viii. (1765) 16 A Proper Receptacle, is that which belongs only to the Parts of a single Fructification. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 171 Flowers..having an involucrum which is either common or proper. 1870 Tyndall Electricity §66. 13 The notion of two kinds of electricity, one proper to vitreous bodies,..the other proper to resinous bodies. Mod. Hymns, with proper Tunes. The Psalms and Canticles, with proper Chants. |
b. Gram. Applied to a name or noun which is used to designate a particular individual object (e.g. a person, a tame animal, a star, planet, country, town, river, house, ship, etc.). Opposed to common a. 17 a.
A proper name is written with an initial capital letter. The same proper name may be borne by many persons in different families or generations, or by several places in different countries or localities; but it does not connote any qualities common to and distinctive of the persons or things which it denotes. A proper name may however receive a connotation from the qualities of an individual so named, and be used as a common noun, as a Hercules, a Cæsar (Kaiser, Czar), a Calvary, an atlas.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 462/18 Heo was icleoped in propre name ‘Þe Maudeleyne’. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 70/1 Charlys, propyr name, Carolus. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 4 b, In this Proposition Cato is the Nowne proper, whiche belongeth to one manne onely. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. iii. §5 If we had Reason to mention particular Horses, as often as..particular Men, we should have proper Names for the one, as familiar as for the other; and Bucephalus would be a Word as much in use, as Alexander. 1720 Waterland Eight Serm. 117 Supposing Jehovah to be meerly a proper name. 1843 Mill Logic i. v. §2 Proper names have strictly no meaning: they are mere marks for individual objects. |
c. Physics. (See quot. 1924.) [tr. G. eigen(zeit) proper (time) (H. Minkowski 1908, in Nachr. von der k. Ges. der Wissensch. zu Gottingen (Math.-phys. Klasse) 103).]
| 1916 Monthly Notices R. Astron. Soc. LXXVI. 704 The element ds integrated along the geodetic line gives s = ∫ ds. This is what Minkowski calls the proper-time of the material particle. 1923 Proc. R. Soc. A. CII. 530 Where m and (- e) are the ‘proper mass’ and charge of the electron respectively. 1924 A. S. Eddington Math. Theory Relativity i. 34 Quantities referred to the space-time system of an observer moving with the body considered are often distinguished by the prefix proper- (German, Eigen-), e.g. proper-length, proper-volume, proper-density, proper-mass = invariant mass. 1942 P. G. Berman Introd. Theory Relativity iv. 41 Whenever the two events can be just connected by a light ray which leaves the site of one event at the time it occurs and arrives at the site of the other event as it takes place, the proper time interval τ12 between them vanishes. 1952 C. M{obar}ller Theory of Relativity iv. 137 While q0/c2 expresses the source density of proper mass, we see that the source density for relativistic mass is ((f.u) + q)/c2. 1964 W. G. V. Rosser Introd. Theory Relativity iii. 102, l0..is the length of the fish measured in the coordinate system in which it is at rest; l0 is called the proper length of the fish, whilst l..is the length of the fish measured in an inertial reference frame relative to which the fish is moving with uniform velocity. 1970 Nature 17 Oct. 272/1 Proper mass (equivalently, rest-mass, proper energy, or rest-energy) is the most important Lorentz-invariant scalar associated with any system. |
3. Her. Represented in the natural colouring, not in any of the conventional tinctures.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 95 b, Twoo Cypres trees raguled Solis, enwrapped with Ivy proper. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xii. (1611) 123 By proper is euermore vnderstood his naturall colour. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 409/1 The City of Oxford beareth Azure, a Book open, proper; with seven Seals between three Crowns Or. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 193 A turkey Cock on each Cut in stone and painted proper. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xvii. §2. 272 A peacock in its pride, proper. |
4. Math. and Physics. Used in collocations as a translation of G. eigen own, proper, characteristic. a. Applied to a vibration or oscillation: = normal a. 2 c.
| 1873 Proc. London Math. Soc. IV. 258 The problem of determining the proper tones of any spherical cavity bounded by rigid walls. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 4 Sept. 10/1 All elastic bodies, including metals, when made fast at one end, vibrate when subjected to a shock from outside. The vibrations so caused are what are known as proper vibrations. 1962 S.-I. Tomonaga Quantum Mech. I. i. 16 It was possible to arrange the proper oscillations in order by giving each of them an integral number s which has the physical meaning that (s - 1) is the number of nodes of the oscillation. |
b. = eigen-, as proper function = eigenfunction; proper value = eigenvalue.
| 1930 Ruark & Urey Atoms, Molecules & Quanta xv. 526 Such an aggregate of E values is often referred to as a ‘spectrum of characteristic values’, or ‘proper values’. 1935 Pauling & Wilson Introd. Quantum Mech. iii. 58 The functions ψs(x) which satisfy Equation 9-8 and also certain auxiliary conditions..are variously called wave functions or eigenfunctions (Eigenfunktionen), or sometimes amplitude functions, characteristic functions, or proper functions. 1938 [see eigenvalue]. 1958 [see latent a. i]. 1975 Gray & Isaacs New Dict. Physics 574/1, ψ must always be finite... The integral of {vb}ψ{vb}2 over all space must be equal to 1... Wave functions obtained when these conditions are applied are called proper wave functions and form a set of characteristic functions of the Schrödinger wave equation. These are often called eigenfunctions and correspond to a set of fixed energy values in which the system may exist, called eigenvalues (proper values). |
II. 5. a. Strictly belonging or applicable; that is in conformity with rule; strict, accurate, exact, correct; † literal, not metaphorical (obs.).
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. v. 166 In properist maner of speking. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. §4 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 72 Qvhy diminiss ȝe or takis away..the trew and propir sentence fra ws, of this part of our Catholik beleif? 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 236 The sense of that place is proper, and not figuratiue. 1581 [see improper a. 1]. 1768 Pennant in Phil. Trans. LVIII. 96 The proper name of these birds is Pinguin... It has been corrupted to Penguin. 1828 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. 43 As I was walking along the common—blown along would be the properer phrase. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 272/2 Arachnids are not, in a proper sense, subject to metamorphosis. |
† b. Very, identical. Obs.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cclxxxv. 426 The same proper night Sir Thomas Grantson was departed. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 29 But loa, the proper image of corps vntumbed apeered In dreame to Dido. 1849 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. x. (1866) 178 Act..like his proper self. |
6. a. To which the name accurately belongs; strictly so called, in the strict use of the word; genuine, true, real; regular, normal. In mod. use often following its noun. † proper chant (obs.): see properchant.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 367 May þou hald me þis hest..And profe þus in my presens as a propire sothe. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 189 It is leeful in proprist maner of lefulnes that Pilgrimagis be doon. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ps. xciii. Comm., The Holie Ghost is the proper auctor, and a man is the writer. 1734 G. Sale Koran Prelim. Disc. §1 (Chandos) 1 Proper Arabia is by the oriental writers divided into five provinces. 1752 P. Petit Hebrew Guide Nj, Vowels are X Proper..and IV Improper, i.e. which are scarcely sounded. 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 89 The earths proper do not unite with oxygen... Characters of the alkaline and proper earths. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps i. §1. 7 Extending principles which belong..to building, into the sphere of architecture proper. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. vii. 101 Rome asserts that in the mass a true and proper sacrifice is offered. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 458 The concussion..may be limited either to the cerebrum proper, or to the medulla and pons. |
b. Arith. proper fraction, a fraction whose value is less than unity, the numerator being less than the denominator.
proper prime: applied by W. H. H. Hudson to a prime number such that, when it is the denominator of a vulgar fraction, the recurring period of the equivalent decimal fraction consists of the highest possible number of figures, i.e. one less than such prime.
| 1674 S. Jeake Arith. (1701) 44 Proper Fractions always have the Numerator less than the Denominator, for then the parts signified are less than an Unit or Integer. Ibid. 169 Nevertheless this is to be understood of Proper Fractions. 1827 Hutton Course Math. I. 52. 1864 W. H. H. Hudson in Messenger of Math. II. 1 If the period of d consist of d - 1 places, d is called a proper prime. |
c. Math. (i) Applied to any subset (subgroup, etc.) that does not constitute the entire set.
| 1906 W. H. & G. C. Young Theory of Sets of Points iii. 16 A set which is contained entirely in another set is called a component of the latter set, and, if there are points of the latter set not belonging to the former set, it is said to be a proper component of the other. 1937 R. D. Carmichael Introd. Theory of Groups of Finite Order i. 28 A subgroup of G which is not identical with G is called a proper subgroup of G. 1953 A. A. Fraenkel Abstract Set Theory i. 21 A subset of S which is different from S, is called a proper subset. 1965 B. Mitchell Theory of Categories i. 6 If the monomorphism α:A{p}→A is not an isomorphism, we shall call A{p} a proper subobject of A. |
(ii) Applied to a subgroup (subring, etc.) that does not constitute the entire group, and has more than one element.
| 1953 W. Ledermann Introd. Theory of Finite Groups ii. 31 Every group G has two trivial or improper subgroups namely, G itself and the group which consists of the unit element by itself (I2 = I); all other subgroups are called proper subgroups. 1965 Patterson & Rutherford Elem. Abstract Algebra ii. 39 A subgroup of G other than G or E is called a proper subgroup. Ibid. iii. 100 Every non-zero ring has two ideals, namely the ring itself and the subset consisting of 0 alone. Any ideal which is not one of these two is called a proper ideal. |
7. Answering fully to the description; thorough, complete, perfect, out-and-out; cf. 8. Now slang or colloq.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 377 Quhen the king his folk has sene Begyn to faile, for propyr tene, Hys assenȝhe gan he cry. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 259 (MS. Gg. 4. 27) He nys but a verray propre fole. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 166 Throw matelent, and werray propyr ire. a 1683 Owen Exp. Heb. (1790) III. 194 Not to be thankful for gifts is the most proper, that is, the most base ingratitude. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., ‘The mischievous boy got a proper licking’. ‘Tom is a proper rogue’. 1853 C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe xliii, Old Markham seems in a proper taking. 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Jan. 45 There will be a proper blow-up about this. |
8. a. Such as a thing of the kind should be; excellent, admirable, commendable, capital, fine, goodly, of high quality. (Also ironically: cf. fine.) Now arch. or vulgar.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 243 John þe propereste profit was Of al þat aperit in manis flesch. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 51 ‘Here is propre seruice’, quod pacience, ‘þer fareth no prynce bettere’. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 218, I wille Tellen the a propre skille. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cvii. 129 Ther wes many a proper feat of armes done. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V 16 b, She had a proper wytte & coulde both reade and wryte. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. II. 40/2 A good humanician, and a proper philosopher. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 132 A proper iest, and neuer heard before. 1599 ― Much Ado iv. i. 312 Talke with a man out at a window, a proper saying. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. i. ii, Ay, she is a proper piece! that such creatures can broke for. 1788 J. May Jrnl. & Lett. (1873) 60 Major Doughty sent me a proper herring..which I salted. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. i, Thou hast tasted thy liquor like a proper man. |
| Comb. 1607 Middleton Your Five Gallants iii. ii, 'Tis a pity such a proper-parted gentleman should want [see part n. 12]. |
b. Of good character or standing; honest, respectable, worthy. Obs. or merged in 11 b.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 169 A proper Gentlewoman. 1601 ― All's Well iv. iii. 240 An aduertisement to a proper maide in Florence..to take heede of the allurement of one Count Rossillion. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iv. §19 The other, S{supr} Philip Stapleton, was a proper man, of a fair extraction. 1765 Gray Shakespeare 3 'Tis Willy begs, once a right proper man. 1891 T. Hardy Tess li, ‘What about you?’ ‘I am not a—proper woman’. |
9. Of goodly appearance or make; fine-looking, ‘fine’, good-looking, handsome, well-made, elegant, comely, ‘fair’. Now arch. and dial.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 685 Aproche he schal þat proper pyle. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5366 ‘Sirs’, quaþ Neymes, ‘comeþ ner, And seeþ a propre siȝte’. c 1450 Holland Howlat 125 That was the proper Pape Iaye, provde in his apparale. 1519 Interl. Four Elem. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 26 Little Nell, A proper wench, she danceth well. 1526 Tindale Heb. xi. 23 The same tyme was Moses borne, and was a propper childe [Wyclif fair or semely; Rheims a proper infant]. 1648 Gage West Ind. 77 These Indians..were very proper, tall and lusty men. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 397 One of the properest buildings north of Trent. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 129 One of white marble..the sinewes and veines..so finely done as to appear very proper. 1823 Scott Quentin D. ii, By St. Anne! but he is a proper youth. 1847–78 Halliwell s.v., To make proper, to adorn. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iv, If he had but been a head taller they had never seen a properer man. |
III. 10. Adapted to some purpose or requirement expressed or implied; fit, apt, suitable; fitting, befitting; esp. appropriate to the circumstances or conditions; what it should be, or what is required; such as one ought to do, have, use, etc.; right.
| a 1225– [implied in properly adv. 3]. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 70 To disordre goode thinges, and put them oute of their propre placis. 1530 Palsgr. 321/2 Proper or apte or that serveth to a purpose, duict, duicte. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 196 'Tis proper I obey him; but not now. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 132 The fruit of Cocos,..of great vertue to purge all humours, and proper for all diseases. 1694 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 258 To enquire of the properest methods to carry on our trade. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 120 They sometimes use the Adz..when the Ax, or some other properer Tool, lies not at hand. 1772 Junius Lett. lxviii. (1820) 337 He might introduce whatever novelties he thought proper. 1795 Cowper Pairing Time 64–5 Choose not alone a proper mate, But proper time to marry. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 91 Boiling the chips..until the inspissated juice has acquired a proper consistency. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight vi. 70 The proper time to commence using glasses. |
11. a. In conformity with social ethics, or with the demands or usages of polite society; becoming, decent, decorous, respectable, genteel, ‘correct’.
| [1704 Swift T. Tub Auth. Apol., How the author came to be without his papers is a story not proper to be told. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 271 ¶4 If it had been proper for them [ladies] to hear,..the Author would not have wrapp'd it up in Greek.] 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 79 That won't be proper; you know, To-morrow's Sunday. 1812–13 Shelley in Dowden Life (1886) I. 327 So you do not know whether it is proper to write to me? 1831 Praed Stanzas Boccaccio iv, Then Guilt will read the properest books, And Folly wear the soberest looks. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom xvi, When will you learn what's proper? |
b. transf. of persons: Conforming to social ethics or polite usage; strictly decorous in manners and behaviour. (Somewhat colloq.)
| 1818 Moore Fudge Fam. Paris x. 72 We dined at a tavern—La, what do I say?..a Restaurateur's, dear; Where your properest ladies go dine every day. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 30 Very proper and respectable gentlemen. 1880 Spurgeon Serm. XXVI. 466 You hear very proper people..cry out against some of us. |
c. Proper Bostonian = Brahmin b. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1947 C. Amory (title) The Proper Bostonians. Ibid. i. 12 Outside observers have claimed to be able to tell the Proper Bostonian male by waistcoat, and the Proper Bostonian female by hat. 1956 C. W. Mills Power Elite iii. 58 Proper Bostonians and proper San Franciscans..would be genuinely embarrassed..[by] cheap publicity. 1969 A. Laski Dominant Fifth v. 180 Daughter of a not particularly wealthy and certainly not Proper Bostonian American. 1973 R. L. Simon Big Fix i. 10 Her proper Bostonian background, the old shipping family back on Lewisburg Square. 1977 J. Cleary High Road to China vii. 231 She was only a mild rebel: there was still too much of the Proper Bostonian in her. |
B. adv. = properly.
1. Excellently, finely, handsomely; genuinely, thoroughly; also, correctly, in a genteel manner (of speech). Now dial., vulgar, or slang.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 901 He lukit to his lykame..So propir plesand of prent. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 242 Propir schene schane the son. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. v. 53 As proper brave a man as e'er was laid Under the turf. 1835–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 201, I am proper glad you agree with me, squire, said he. 1898 Doyle Trag. Korosko ix, ‘Had 'em that time—had 'em proper!’ said he. 1915 Dialect Notes IV. 188 Talk proper before your teacher. 1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke ii. 41 Perhaps she'll 'ave another go at teachin' me to speak proper, pore soul. 1966 F. Shaw et al. (title) Lern yerself Scouse. How to talk proper in Liverpool. 1980 Listener 22 May 665/1 He has not learnt how to talk proper. |
† 2. Suitably, appropriately. Obs.
| 1663 Gerbier Counsel a vj, Ordering each part thereof proper to its particular use. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 136 The Joysts lie not proper for the second Story. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 36 Which is properest done at those seasons when our thoughts are fresh. |
C. n. or quasi-n.
[The adj. used absol., sometimes with pl. as a n. Cf. L. proprium neuter, used subst., and own used predicatively (this is my own) or absol. (take of your own).]
† 1. a. That which is one's own; private possession, private property; something belonging to oneself.
| [c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2380 Þey nolde soffre hym nought to take, Hys owen propre for to make.] c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 40 Lyuynge in obedience, wiþouten propre. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 130 How moche thou mayste despende of thyn owyn propyr. 1456 Regist. de Aberbrothoc (Bann. Cl.) II. 89 The proppis that passis estwart betwix the propir and the commoun. 1524 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. xiii. 26 Redounding to their honours & suerties, as his awne propers. 1550 Bale Apol. 22, I frire N. make my profession and promyse obedience to God, to S. Frances..to live without propre and in chastite accordynge to the rule of the sayd ordre. |
† b. in proper: in individual possession; as private property; as one's own. (Opposed to in common.) Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. ii. 22 (Camb. MS.) Yif thow mayst shewyn me þat euere any mortal man hath reseyuyd any of tho thinges to ben hise in propre. 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 101 We seyen we han riȝt nouȝt in propre ne in comoun. 1553 Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 215 Christ and his Apostles had no possessions neyther in proper nor in commune. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage viii. vi. (1614) 768 They haue their lands and gardens in proper. 1650 Jer. Taylor Holy Living iii. §3 (1727) 171 They could not have that in proper, which God made to be common. |
2. Eccl. An office, or some part of an office, as a psalm, etc., appointed for a particular occasion or season. Opp. to common n. 10.
| [c 1400 Table of Lessons, etc. in Wyclif's Bible IV. 683 First ben sett sondaies and ferials togider, and after that the sanctorum, bothe comyn and propre togider, of al the ȝeer. Ibid. 696 Here endith the Propre Sanctorum, and now bigynneth the Commoun Sanctorum.] 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Order, etc., The Collect, Epistle, and Gospell, appoynted for the Sundaie, shall serue all the weeke after, except there fall some feast that hath his propre. 1851 [Rorison] Hymns & Anthems Introd. 23 The Proper of the Season and the Proper of Saints, for which [the Prayer Book] provides Epistles and Gospels. 1874 [see common n. 10]. 1882–3 Schaff's Encycl. Relig. Knowl. 2064 The regular [R.C.] orders have also in most cases a Proper, containing offices of saints belonging to their rule. |
† 3. An attribute specially or intrinsically belonging to something; an essential quality, property, characteristic. Obs.
| 1619 Bp. Andrewes Serm., Acts x. 34. 35 (1629) 725 The receiving of the Holy Ghost in a more ample measure [is] opus diei, the proper of this Day. Ibid. (1661) 418 That is Christ's proper. 1654 Z. Coke Logick 67 Every proper floweth from the Essential beginnings of his subject. 1697 tr. Burgersdicius his Logic 41 Propers either flow immediately from the Essence of the Subject;..Or, by the Mediation of some other Property. |
▸ slang (orig. and chiefly in African-American usage). In pl. Chiefly with possessive pronoun. Due respect, acknowledgement, or esteem; = props n.
| 1971 Chicago Daily Defender 7 Jan. 14/3 A level of existence which affords each black man his propers—dignity, pride,..and the ability to govern his destiny. 1981 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 4 Dec. b15/1 The least they could have done was give me my propers. 1993 Essence (Electronic ed.) July 50 Now she's finally starting to get her propers. 2002 Echoes May 55/1 His approach to both his instrument and composition is anything but predictable and for that alone he deserves a bag full of propers. |
▪ II. † ˈproper, v. Obs.
[f. proper a.: cf. L. propriāre to make one's own, obs. F. proprier corresponding in form and use. In some cases perh. aphetic for apropre, appropre v.]
1. trans. To appropriate (to oneself), to make one's own, take possession of.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 421 Men..þat assenten to siche propring of chirchis bisyde cristis leeue. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) vii. v. 281/2 They propren to themselfe by couetyse that is comon by kynde. |
2. To appropriate, to make proper, to apply or ascribe specially or exclusively (to a person or thing).
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 353 Crist seiþ..þat by hijs manhed he had no power to ȝyue hem leue to sit on hijs riȝt side, but to þe godhed in hijs fadure is propred þis power. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xxvii. (Tollem. MS.), Þe liknesse þat we seeþ in sweuenis we..propreþ to him þe names of þo þinges, for liknesse of þe þingis [L. propter similitudinem eis appropriamur]. Ibid. xvii. cxl. (Bodl. MS.), Rubitum oþer Rubus is a name ipropred þer to a schrubbe þat bereþ wilde beries. c 1400 Prymer 50 God! to whom it is proprid to be merciful euere. |
b. ? To make master (of something).
| 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) ii. xvii. 130 The person contemplatyf y{supt} by the grace of god is truely propred of all his desyres & pleasures vayne & wordly. |
¶ The alleged sense ‘to make proper, to adorn’, cited in Cent. Dict., is due to a misreading of Halliwell: see quot. 1847–78 s.v. proper a. 9.