Crossword clues for propriety
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Propriety \Pro*pri"e*ty\, n.; pl. Proprieties. [F. propri['e]t['e], L. proprietas, fr. proprius one's own, proper. See Property, Proper.]
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Individual right to hold property; ownership by personal title; property. [Obs.] ``Onles this propriety be exiled.''
--Robynson (More's Utopia).So are the proprieties of a wife to be disposed of by her lord, and yet all are for her provisions, it being a part of his need to refresh and supply hers.
--Jer. Taylor. -
That which is proper or peculiar; an inherent property or quality; peculiarity. [Obs.]
--Bacon.We find no mention hereof in ancient zo["o]graphers, . . . who seldom forget proprieties of such a nature.
--Sir T. Browne. The quality or state of being proper; suitableness to an acknowledged or correct standard or rule; consonance with established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness; as, propriety of behavior, language, manners, etc. ``The rule of propriety,''
--Locke.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-15c., "proper character, disposition," from Old French proprieté "individuality, peculiarity; property" (12c.), from Latin proprietatem (nominative proprietas) "appropriateness," also "ownership" (see property). Meaning "fitness, appropriateness" is attested from 1610s; sense of "conformity to good manners" is from 1782.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context obsolete English) The particular character or essence of someone or something; individuality. (14th-19th c.) 2 (context obsolete English) A characteristic; an attribute. (14th-19th c.) 3 (context now rare English) A piece of land owned by someone; someone's property. (from 15th c.) 4 (context obsolete English) More generally, something owned by someone; a possession. (15th-18th c.) 5 The fact of possessing something; ownership. (from 15th c.) 6 (context now rare English) Correct language or pronunciation. (from 16th c.) 7 suitability, fitness; the quality of being appropriate. (from 17th c.) 8 correctness in behaviour and morals; good manners, seemliness. (from 18th c.)
WordNet
n. correct or appropriate behavior [syn: properness, correctitude] [ant: impropriety, impropriety]
Usage examples of "propriety".
Yet he continued his occasional game of billiards with Priss and when the two met they behaved with complete propriety.
Wifelike, she straightened his now mostly buttonless shirt into some semblance of propriety.
Just then Miss Matty, who had been out all the morning, and had only lately returned to the house, burst in with a face of dismay and outraged propriety.
His alarm lest I should misconceive his position with regard to his mistress, or question the propriety of her conduct, touched me particularly.
His lordship distinguished with great propriety and precision, between a step which had been precipitately taken in a violent crisis, when the public was heated with apprehension and resentment, and a solemn law concerted at leisure, during the most profound tranquility.
Valancourt, was now scarcely endurable, and, since propriety would not suffer her to send to the chateau of his brother, she requested that Theresa would immediately hire some person to go to his steward from herself, and, when he asked for the quarterage due to her, to make enquiries concerning Valancourt.
Lady Rangle cared nothing for propriety when so great a catch as the very rich brother of a Viscount was involved.
Lord knew how many other representatives from the finest families he had offended with this schoolboyish slap in the face to propriety.
Even in England, he said, where the frequent return of elections was attended with great inconvenience, the propriety of the septennial bill might justly be doubted.
The skirts of the gown were stiffened with tarlatan, which gave the dress a degree of formality even without the hourglass shape imposed by stays, and Arabella after a swift glance in the long mirror decided she had sacrificed enough comfort in the interest of sartorial propriety for one day.
An unbottling of martial spirits fermenting inside all that propriety?
And how his great devotion mocks Our poor propriety, and scares The undevout with paradox!
The brows drew in, the black eyes hardened with a cold narrowing of mistrust: even before he spoke he saw she had read the story of his profligate extravagance, and that from that moment the hard propriety of her suspicious soul had been turned against him with that virtuous dislike which such people feel for unmoneyed men.
Deviation from scenic propriety has only to vituperate itself for the consequences it generates.
Joe Bulder smoked a good deal more than was good for him, and anathematised those scoundrels of jumpers with more fervency than propriety.