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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Propriety


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.