propriety

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun correct or appropriate behavior

Etymology

From late Middle English proprietee, propretee, propriete (“ownership”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman propreté, Middle French proprieté, from Latin proprietās. By surface analysis, prop(e)r + -iety. Doublet of property.

In classic literature

Synonyms

properness, correctitude

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