proprius

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *pér

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *pró

Proto-Indo-European *pro-

Proto-Italic *pro-

Proto-Indo-European *preyH-

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *priHós

Proto-Italic *prijos

Proto-Italic *proprijos

Latin proprius

Most likely from Proto-Italic *pro- + *prijos (“own, dear”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“dear”). Since pro- can hardly be explained as a nominal prefix, Forssman (2004) explains it as having been extended to the adjective from the verb propriāre, once-attested as propriāssit. Cognate to Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá, “dear”), Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “buddy, mate”) and Russian прия́тный (prijátnyj, “pleasant”), Welsh rhydd (“free”), English free.

Other suggestions include:

• for *proprīvus, from the root of prīvus (“individual”), from Proto-Indo-European *prey-wo-s (“being in front”).
• for *propatrius, from pro- +‎ pater, meaning “from one's forefathers”, taking Ancient Greek προπάτωρ (propátōr, “forefather”) as comparison.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈprɔ.pri.ʊs], [ˈprɔp.ri.ʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈprɔː.pri.us], [ˈprɔp.ri.us]

Adjective

proprius (feminine propria, neuter proprium); first/second-declension adjective

1. appropriate to oneself: (one's) proper, (one's) own (inalienably)
2. belonging to oneself as property, or goods: (one's) own (alienably)
   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Proverbs.11.24:

     aliī dīvidunt propria et dītiōrēs fīunt aliī rapiunt nōn sua et semper in egestāte sunt

     Some distribute their own goods, and grow richer: others take away what is not their own, and are always in want. (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.: 1752 CE)

3. particular to one individual, group, or case: characteristic, distinctive, eccentric, idiosyncratic, individual, specialized

   nōmen proprium ― proper noun

4. going on without end: lasting, constant, permanent, perpetual
   • 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 959–961:

     PAMPHILUS: Ego deōrum vītam proptereā sempiternam esse arbitror / quod voluptātēs eōrum propriae sunt; nam mihi immortālitās / parta est, sī nūlla aegritūdō huic gaudiō intercesserit.

     PAMPHILUS: That’s why I believe the life of gods to be eternal — because their own pleasures are permanent. For [this same reason], my immortality has been secured — if no grief interferes with this joy.

5. not shared with others: personal, private, exclusive

   Antonym: commūnis

6. (of activities) proper to, characteristic of a given set of persons or things
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.12:

     Quārē, quoniam id, quod est prīmum, et quod huius imperiī disciplīnaeque maiōrum proprium est, facere nōndum audeō, faciam id, quod est ad sevēritātem lēnius et ad commūnem salūtem ūtilius.

     Therefore, since I do not yet dare to do that which is best — and which is characteristic of this authority and the discipline of our ancestors — I will do that which, in regard to severity, is milder, and in regard to the common welfare, more useful.

7. (of words) proper, literal, strict

   Antonyms: trā(ns)lāticius, trā(ns)lātus

   1. concrete, specific
   2. used of proper nouns

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	proprius	propria	proprium		propriī	propriae	propria
genitive	propriī	propriae	propriī		propriōrum	propriārum	propriōrum
dative	propriō	propriae	propriō		propriīs
accusative	proprium	propriam	proprium		propriōs	propriās	propria
ablative	propriō	propriā	propriō		propriīs
vocative	proprie	propria	proprium		propriī	propriae	propria

Derived terms

• propriē
• proprietās
• propriō

Descendants

• Asturian: propiu, prupiu
• Catalan: propi
• → English: proper
• → Esperanto: propra
• French: propre
• Istriot: pruoprio
• Italian: proprio, propio
• Portuguese: próprio
• Romanian: propriu
• Spanish: propio
• Venetan: propio
• Lombard: propes, propi

See also

• pecūliāris
• prīvātus
• suus

Further reading

• “proprius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “proprius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "proprius", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “proprius”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the proper term; a word used strictly: vocabulum proprium
    
  • something is a characteristic of a man: aliquid est proprium alicuius
    

• “proprius” on page 1646 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 829