proprius

Latin

Etymology

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) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.pri.us/, [ˈprɔpriʊs̠] or IPA^(key): /ˈprop.ri.us/, [ˈprɔpriʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.pri.us/, [ˈprɔːprius] or IPA^(key): /ˈprop.ri.us/, [ˈprɔprius]

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)
   • 405 CE, Jerome, 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
4. not shared with others: personal, private, exclusive

   Antonym: commūnis

5. (of activities) proper to, characteristic of a given set of persons or things
6. (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.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	proprius	propria	proprium		propriī	propriae	propria
Genitive	propriī	propriae	propriī		propriōrum	propriārum	propriōrum
Dative	propriō		propriō		propriīs
Accusative	proprium	propriam	proprium		propriōs	propriās	propria
Ablative	propriō	propriā	propriō		propriīs
Vocative	proprie	propria	proprium		propriī	propriae	propria

Derived terms

• proprietās
• propriē
• propriō

 

Descendants

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

See also

• pecūliāris
• prīvātus
• suus

References

• “proprius” on page 1646 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “proprius”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 493
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 829

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’s 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