Where does “propriety” come from?
Propriety comes from Middle English propriete, from Middle French proprieté, from Latin proprietas, derived from the adjective proprius meaning "one's own," formed with the suffix -tus from Proto-Indo-European -teh₂ and -tós.
propriety (English): The particular character or essence of someone or...
Definitions
- The particular character or essence of someone or...
Ancestry of “propriety”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | proprietee | — |
| 2 | Middle French | proprieté | — |
| 3 | Latin | proprietās | quality, property, peculiarity, character |
| 4 | Latin | -tās | ty, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |