About The Word Proper

Bay Area Crosswords

Learn about the word Proper to help solve your crossword puzzle. Discover Proper definitions and meaning, origins, synonyms, related terms and more at the free Crossword Dictionary.

Proper

Proper Meaning & Definition
Proper Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Proper?

[adj] appropriate for a condition or occasion; "everything in its proper place"; "the right man for the job"; "she is not suitable for the position"
[adj] marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness; "proper medical treatment"; "proper manners"

Synonyms | Synonyms for Proper: appropriate | becoming | comely | comme il faut | correct | decent | decorous | fitting | kosher | priggish | prim | prissy | prudish | puritanical | right | seemly | square-toed | straightlaced | straitlaced | suitable | tight-laced | victorian

Related Terms | Find terms related to Proper:

See Also |

Proper In Webster's Dictionary

\Prop"er\, a. [OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius. Cf. {Appropriate}.] 1. Belonging to one; one's own; individual. ``His proper good'' [i. e., his own possessions]. --Chaucer. ``My proper son.'' --Shak. Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. --Dryden. 2. Belonging to the natural or essential constitution; peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites. Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity. --Coleridge. 3. Befitting one's nature, qualities, etc.; suitable in all respect; appropriate; right; fit; decent; as, water is the proper element for fish; a proper dress. The proper study of mankind is man. --Pope. In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play, All proper to the spring, and sprightly May. --Dryden. 4. Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [Archaic] ``Thou art a proper man.'' --Chaucer. Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child. --Heb. xi. 23. 5. Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the whole; not appellative; -- opposed to {common}; as, a proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city. 6. Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper; the garden proper. 7. (Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any object used as a charge. {In proper}, individually; privately. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor. {Proper flower} or {corolla} (Bot.), one of the single florets, or corollets, in an aggregate or compound flower. {Proper fraction} (Arith.) a fraction in which the numerator is less than the denominator. {Proper nectary} (Bot.), a nectary separate from the petals and other parts of the flower. -- {Proper noun} (Gram.), a name belonging to an individual, by which it is distinguished from others of the same class; -- opposed to {common noun}; as, John, Boston, America. {Proper perianth} or {involucre} (Bot.), that which incloses only a single flower. {Proper receptacle} (Bot.), a receptacle which supports only a single flower or fructification.
\Prop"er\, adv. Properly; hence, to a great degree; very; as, proper good. [Colloq & Vulgar]

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