a. [ OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius. Cf. Appropriate. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Belonging to one; one's own; individual. “His proper good” [ i. e., his own possessions ]. Chaucer. “My proper son.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now learn the difference, at your proper cost,
Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Belonging to the natural or essential constitution; peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The proper study of mankind is man. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play,
All proper to the spring, and sprightly May. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [ Archaic ] “Thou art a proper man.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child. Heb. xi. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper; the garden proper. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any object used as a charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

In proper, individually; privately. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. --
Proper flower or
Proper 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
Proper involucre (Bot.), that which incloses only a single flower. --
Proper receptacle (Bot.), a receptacle which supports only a single flower or fructification. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Properly; hence, to a great degree; very; as, proper good. [ Colloq & Vulgar ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ L. properatus, p. p. of properare to hasten. ] To hasten, or press forward. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. properatio. ] The act of hastening; haste. [ Obs. ] T. Adams. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Gr. Gram.) Properispomenon. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Properispomena [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to circumflex on the penult; &unr_; before + &unr_; to circumflex. See Perispomenon. ] (Gr. Gram.) A word which has the circumflex accent on the penult. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. In a proper manner; suitably; fitly; strictly; rightly; as, a word properly applied; a dress properly adjusted. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Individually; after one's own manner. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Now, harkeneth, how I bare me properly. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The quality of being proper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Tallness; comeliness. [ Obs. ] Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Possessing property; holding real estate, or other investments of money. “The propertied and satisfied classes.” M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Properties [ OE. proprete, OF. propreté property, F. propreté neatness, cleanliness, propriété property, fr. L. proprietas. See Proper, a., and cf. Propriety. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. That which is proper to anything; a peculiar quality of a thing; that which is inherent in a subject, or naturally essential to it; an attribute; as, sweetness is a property of sugar. [ 1913 Webster ]

Property is correctly a synonym for peculiar quality; but it is frequently used as coextensive with quality in general. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In physical science, the properties of matter are distinguished to the three following classes: 1. Physical properties, or those which result from the relations of bodies to the physical agents, light, heat, electricity, gravitation, cohesion, adhesion, etc., and which are exhibited without a change in the composition or kind of matter acted on. They are color, luster, opacity, transparency, hardness, sonorousness, density, crystalline form, solubility, capability of osmotic diffusion, vaporization, boiling, fusion, etc. 2. Chemical properties, or those which are conditioned by affinity and composition; thus, combustion, explosion, and certain solutions are reactions occasioned by chemical properties. Chemical properties are identical when there is identity of composition and structure, and change according as the composition changes. 3. Organoleptic properties, or those forming a class which can not be included in either of the other two divisions. They manifest themselves in the contact of substances with the organs of taste, touch, and smell, or otherwise affect the living organism, as in the manner of medicines and poisons. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An acquired or artificial quality; that which is given by art, or bestowed by man; as, the poem has the properties which constitute excellence. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying, and disposing of a thing; ownership; title. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shall man assume a property in man? Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That to which a person has a legal title, whether in his possession or not; thing owned; an estate, whether in lands, goods, or money; as, a man of large property, or small property. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. All the adjuncts of a play except the scenery and the dresses of the actors; stage requisites. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will draw a bill of properties. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Propriety; correctness. [ Obs. ] Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Literary property. (Law) See under Literary. --
Property man, one who has charge of the “properties” of a theater. [ 1913 Webster ]