proprietary

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

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

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

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

proprietary colony
a colony granted to an individual proprietor with authority to govern it

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Proprietary, recorded in late Middle English, comes from the Latin family of proprietas “ownership,” itself derived from proprius “one’s own, special, particular.” It is closely related to property and proprietor.

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

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# proprietary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**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
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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