PROPRI'ETY, noun [Latin proprietas, from proprius.] 1. Property; peculiar or exclusive right of possession; ownership. [This primary sense of the word, as used by Locke, Milton, Dryden, etc. seems not to be nearly or wholly obsolete. See Property.] 2. Fitness; suitableness; appropriateness; consonance with established principles, rules or customs; justness; accuracy. propriety of conduct, in a moral sense, consists in its conformity to the moral law; propriety of behavior, consists in conformity to the established rules of decorum; propriety in language, is correctness in the use of words and phrases, according to established usage, which constitutes the rule of speaking and writing. 3. Proper state.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI