Proper

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Proper \Prop"er\, a. [OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius.
     Cf. {Appropriate}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Belonging to one; one's own; individual. "His proper good"
        [i. e., his own possessions]. --Chaucer. "My proper son."
        --Shak.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Now learn the difference, at your proper cost,
              Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Belonging to the natural or essential constitution;
        peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his
        proper instincts and appetites.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which
              constitute our proper humanity.       --Coleridge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Befitting one's nature, qualities, etc.; suitable in all
        respect; appropriate; right; fit; decent; as, water is the
        proper element for fish; a proper dress.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The proper study of mankind is man.   --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play,
              All proper to the spring, and sprightly May.
                                                    --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [Archaic]
        "Thou art a proper man." --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents,
              because they saw he was a proper child. --Heb. xi.
                                                    23.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the
        whole; not appellative; -- opposed to {common}; as, a
        proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper;
        the garden proper.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. (Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any
        object used as a charge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {In proper}, individually; privately. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.
        
  
     {Proper flower} or {Proper corolla} (Bot.), one of the single
        florets, or corollets, in an aggregate or compound flower.
        
  
     {Proper fraction} (Arith.) a fraction in which the numerator
        is less than the denominator.
  
     {Proper nectary} (Bot.), a nectary separate from the petals
        and other parts of the flower. -- {Proper noun} (Gram.), a
        name belonging to an individual, by which it is
        distinguished from others of the same class; -- opposed to
        {common noun}; as, John, Boston, America.
  
     {Proper perianth} or {Proper involucre} (Bot.), that which
        incloses only a single flower.
  
     {Proper receptacle} (Bot.), a receptacle which supports only
        a single flower or fructification.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Proper \Prop"er\, adv.
     Properly; hence, to a great degree; very; as, proper good.
     [Colloq & Vulgar]
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  proper
       adj 1: marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness;
              "proper medical treatment"; "proper manners" [ant: {improper}]
       2: limited to the thing specified; "the city proper"; "his
          claim is connected with the deed proper" [syn: {proper(ip)}]
       3: appropriate for a condition or occasion; "everything in its
          proper place"; "the right man for the job"; "she is not
          suitable for the position" [syn: {right}, {suitable}]
       4: having all the qualities typical of the thing specified;
          "wanted a proper dinner; not just a snack"; "he finally
          has a proper job" [syn: {proper(a)}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  274 Moby Thesaurus words for "proper":
     Christian, OK, absolute, accepted, accommodated to, according to,
     according to Hoyle, accurate, acknowledged, adapted, adapted to,
     adjusted to, admitted, advantageous, advisable, after,
     agreeable to, agreeably to, all right, alone, answerable to,
     applicable, apposite, appropriate, approved, apropos, apt, arrant,
     au fait, authentic, authoritative, balanced, banausic, becoming,
     befitting, being done, beneficial, blamed, by, canonical, capable,
     characteristic, civil, classical, comely, comme il faut,
     commodious, competent, complete, condign, conformable,
     conformable to, conforming, conformist, confounded, congruent with,
     congruous, consistent with, consummate, convenient, conventional,
     correct, crashing, crass, customary, de rigueur, dead right,
     decent, decided, decorous, defensible, definitive, delicate,
     deserved, desirable, desired, diagnostic, dignified, distinct,
     distinctive, distinguished, downright, due, egregious, elegant,
     employable, equitable, established, evangelical, even, evenhanded,
     exact, expected, expedient, fair, fair and square, faithful,
     faultless, favorable, feasible, felicitous, firm, fit, fitten,
     fitting, flagrant, flawless, formal, fructuous, functional,
     genteel, gentlemanly, glaring, good, good for, gross, happy,
     helpful, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, in accordance with,
     in agreement with, in character, in compliance with,
     in conformity with, in correspondence to, in harmony with,
     in keeping with, in line with, in lock-step with, in obedience to,
     in step with, in uniformity with, individual, infernal, inspired,
     intolerable, intrinsic, just, just right, justifiable, justified,
     kosher, ladylike, lawful, legal, letter-perfect, level, likely,
     literal, marked, meet, meet and right, merited, meticulous, modest,
     nice, normal, normative, of general utility, of help, of service,
     of the faith, of use, okay, only, opportune, orthodox,
     orthodoxical, out-and-out, outright, own, particular, peculiar,
     per, perfect, polite, politic, positive, practical, pragmatical,
     precious, precise, prig, priggish, prissy, profitable, profound,
     pronounced, proper to, prudish, punctilious, puritanical,
     qualified, quintessential, rank, received, recognized,
     recommendable, refined, regular, respectable, respective, right,
     right and proper, righteous, rightful, rigorous, satisfactory,
     scriptural, seasonable, seemly, sensible, separate, serviceable,
     shattering, shocking, single, singular, solely, sortable, sound,
     special, specific, square, standard, stark, stark-staring,
     straight, straight-up-and-down, straitlaced, strictly speaking,
     stuffy, suitable, suitable for, suited, superlative, surpassing,
     textual, the veriest, thorough, thoroughgoing, timely,
     to be desired, total, traditional, traditionalistic, true,
     true to form, true-blue, unbearable, unconscionable, undeniable,
     unequivocal, uniform with, unique, unmitigated, unqualified,
     unrelieved, unspoiled, urbane, useful, usual, utilitarian, utter,
     warrantable, warranted, well-chosen, well-expressed, well-put,
     well-timed, wicked, wise, worthwhile
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PROPER. That which is essential, suitable, adapted, and correct. 
       2. Congress is authorized by art, 1, s. 8, of the constitution of the 
  United States, "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper, for 
  carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by 
  this constitution of the United States, in any department. or officer 
  thereof." See Necessary and Proper.