*roper*

n. One who gropes; one who feels his way in the dark, or searches by feeling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The person at a geodetic station who has charge of the heliotrope. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Hydro-, and Peritoneum. ] (Med.) Same as Ascites. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. impropre, L. improprius; pref. im- not + proprius proper. See Proper. ] 1. Not proper; not suitable; not fitted to the circumstances, design, or end; unfit; not becoming; incongruous; inappropriate; indecent; as, an improper medicine; improper thought, behavior, language, dress. [ 1913 Webster ]

Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service,
Improper for a slave. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

And to their proper operation still,
Ascribe all Good; to their improper, Ill. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not peculiar or appropriate to individuals; general; common. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Not to be adorned with any art but such improper ones as nature is said to bestow, as singing and poetry. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not according to facts; inaccurate; erroneous. [ 1913 Webster ]

Improper diphthong. See under Diphthong. --
Improper feud, an original feud, not earned by military service. Mozley & W. --
Improper fraction. See under Fraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To appropriate; to limit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He would in like manner improper and inclose the sunbeams to comfort the rich and not the poor. Jewel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. improperare, improperatum, to taunt. ] The act of upbraiding or taunting; a reproach; a taunt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Improperatios and terms of scurrility. Sir T. Browne [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ L., reproaches. ] (Mus.) A series of antiphons and responses, expressing the sorrowful remonstrance of our Lord with his people; -- sung on the morning of the Good Friday in place of the usual daily Mass of the Roman ritual. Grove. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an improper manner; not properly; unsuitably; unbecomingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Impropriety. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Computers) The quality of being interoperable. Used of data structures or executable programs. [ PJC ]

a. (Computers) Being able to function in two or more different programs or operating systems. Used of data structures or executable programs; as, Microsoft Word files are interoperable between Intel and Macintosh operating environments.. [ PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to the interoperculum. -- n. The interopercular bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. -la (Anat.) The postero-inferior opercular bone, in fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the pleura and pericardium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pleuro- + peripneumony. ] (Med.) Pleuropneumonia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the pleural and peritoneal membranes or cavities, or to the pleuroperitoneum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pleuro- + peritoneum. ] (Anat.) The pleural and peritoneal membranes, or the membrane lining the body cavity and covering the surface of the inclosed viscera; the peritoneum; -- used especially in the case of those animals in which the body cavity is not divided. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Peritoneum is now often used in the sense of pleuroperitoneum, the pleuræ being regarded as a part of the peritoneum, when the body cavity is undivided. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]

v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To invest which properties, or qualities. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make a property of; to appropriate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They have here propertied me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A maker of ropes. P. Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who ropes goods; a packer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One fit to be hanged. [ Old Slang ] Douce. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A place where ropes are made. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Tricks deserving the halter; roguery. [ Obs. ] “Saucy merchant . . . so full of his ropery.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]