proprietary

C2 Topic:Business & Commerce

US /pɹəˈpɹaɪ.əˌtɛɹ.i/ UK /pɹəˈpɹaɪ.ə.tə.ɹi/ See IPA manual

adj noun Freq #30458

Meanings

1

adj
Owned by a particular company and protected by patents, trademarks, or copyright.

The software uses a proprietary format that other programs cannot open.
2

adj
Relating to ownership, or behaving as though one owns something.

He glanced at the new car with a proprietary pride.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · relating to ownership, or... proprietorial

Word family

Forms nonproprietaryproprietaries

Derived forms non-proprietarynonproprietaryproprietarialproprietarianproprietarilyproprietarinessproprietarity

Related forms properproprialization

Etymology

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

propriétaire French proprietārius Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Business & Commerce Word Formation & Derivatives

# proprietary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** pɹəˈpɹaɪ.əˌtɛɹ.i
**IPA (UK):** pɹəˈpɹaɪ.ə.tə.ɹi
**Frequency rank:** 30458

## Meanings
1. Owned by a particular company and protected by patents, trademarks, or copyright.
2. Relating to ownership, or behaving as though one owns something.

## Examples
- The software uses a proprietary format that other programs cannot open.
- He glanced at the new car with a proprietary pride.

## Derived Forms
- non-proprietary
- nonproprietary
- proprietarial
- proprietarian
- proprietarily
- proprietariness
- proprietarity

## Related Forms
- proper
- proprialization

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: propriétaire
- Root: proprietārius

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

## AI Etymology
Proprietary is from French propriétaire, from Latin proprietārius. By surface analysis, propriety + -ary. Compare with the Latin proprietas (“property”) and proprius (“ownership”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include propriétaire (French) and proprietārius (Latin). Current senses include owned by a particular company and protected by patents, trademarks, or copyright and relating to ownership, or behaving as though one owns something. The wider family includes derived forms such as non-proprietary, nonproprietary, proprietarial, proprietarian, and proprietarily; related words such as proper and proprialization.

## Topics
- Business & Commerce
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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