proprietary

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Of or relating to property or ownership.

   proprietary rights

2. 2
   adj

   Owning something; having ownership.

   the proprietary class

3. 3
   adj

   Created or manufactured exclusively by the owner or licensee of intellectual property rights, as with a patent or trade secret.

   The continuous profitability of the company is based on its many proprietary products.

4. 4
   adj

   Nonstandard and controlled by one particular organization.

   a proprietary extension to the HTML standard for Web page structure

5. 5
   adj

   Privately owned.

   a proprietary lake;   a proprietary chapel

6. 6
   noun

   A proprietor or owner.

   Wherefore what issue soever shall result from my mind , by his means most happily married to a retired life , must , of due , redound to his honour , as the sole proprietary of my pains during my present condition

7. 7
   noun

   A company doing legitimate business while also serving as a front for espionage.

   For all practical purposes, the proprietaries conduct their own financial affairs with a minimum of oversight from CIA headquarters.

8. 8
   adj

   protected by trademark or patent or copyright

Etymology

From French propriétaire, from Latin proprietārius. By surface analysis, propriety + -ary. Compare with the Latin proprietas (“property”) and proprius (“ownership”).