proper

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
2. Proto-Indo-European*pér
3. Proto-Indo-European*pró
4. Proto-Indo-European*pro-
5. Proto-Italic*pro-
6. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
7. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
8. Proto-Italic*prijos
9. Proto-Italic*proprijos
10. Latinpropriu
11. Anglo-Normanpropre
12. Middle Englishpropre
13. English todayproper

From Middle English propre, from Anglo-Norman proper, propre, Old French propre (French: propre), from Latin proprius.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• 13th c. Suited or acceptable to the purpose or circumstances; fit, suitable.
• 18th c. Following the established standards of behavior or manners; correct or decorous.
• 14th c. Used to designate a particular person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are usually written with an initial capital letter.
• 14th c. Pertaining exclusively to a specific thing or person; particular.
• 14th c. Belonging to oneself or itself; own.
• 16th c. Portrayed in natural or usual coloration, as opposed to conventional tinctures.
• 20th c. Being strictly part of some other thing (not necessarily explicitly mentioned, but of definitional importance), and not being the thing itself.
• 20th c. Eigen-; designating a function or value which is an eigenfunction or eigenvalue.