Propriety

3 definitions found

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

  Propriety \Pro*pri"e*ty\, n.; pl. {Proprieties}. [F.
     propri['e]t['e], L. proprietas, fr. proprius one's own,
     proper. See {Property}, {Proper}.]
     1. Individual right to hold property; ownership by personal
        title; property. [Obs.] "Onles this propriety be exiled."
        --Robynson (More's Utopia).


        [1913 Webster]
  
              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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. That which is proper or peculiar; an inherent property or
        quality; peculiarity. [Obs.] --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We find no mention hereof in ancient zoographers, .
              . . who seldom forget proprieties of such a nature.
                                                    --Sir T.
                                                    Browne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. 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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  propriety
       n : correct or appropriate behavior [syn: {properness}, {correctitude}]
           [ant: {impropriety}, {impropriety}]

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

  179 Moby Thesaurus words for "propriety":
     Atticism, admissibility, advantage, advantageousness, advisability,
     amenities, applicability, appositeness, appropriateness, aptitude,
     aptness, auspiciousness, becomingness, beneficialness, bienseance,
     breeding, ceremony, chargedness, chasteness, chastity, civilities,
     civility, clarity, classicalism, classicism, clearness, comeliness,
     conformity, convenance, convenience, convention,
     conventional usage, conventionalism, conventionality, correctitude,
     correctness, courtesy, criticality, crucialness, custom, decencies,
     decency, decorousness, decorum, defensibility, delicacy,
     desirability, dignity, directness, discrimination, distinction,
     drumhead justice, dueness, ease, elegance, elegancy, equitableness,
     equity, etiquette, evenhandedness, expedience, expediency,
     favorableness, feasibility, felicitousness, felicity, finish,
     fitness, fittedness, fittingness, flow, flowing periods, fluency,
     form, formality, fruitfulness, genteelness, gentility,
     give-and-take, good form, good taste, goodness, grace,
     gracefulness, gracility, happiness, health, justice,
     justifiability, justifiableness, justification, justness,
     lawfulness, legality, limpidity, loadedness, lucidity,
     mannerliness, measure for measure, meetness, modesty, mores,
     naturalism, naturalness, naturism, neatness, nemesis, niceness,
     normalcy, normality, normalness, normativeness, opportuneness,
     order, orderliness, pellucidity, percentage, perspicuity,
     plainness, poetic justice, polish, politeness, politesse,
     politicness, pregnancy, profit, profitability, properness,
     propitiousness, proprieties, protocol, prudence, pudency, pudicity,
     punctilio, purity, qualification, realism, refinement, regularity,
     relevance, respectability, restraint, retributive justice, right,
     righteousness, rightfulness, rightness, ripeness, ritual,
     rude justice, scales of justice, seasonableness, sedateness,
     seemliness, shame, simplicity, smoothness, social convention,
     social usage, straightforwardness, suitability, suitableness,
     summary justice, taste, tastefulness, terseness, the proprieties,
     timeliness, tradition, unaffectedness, urbanity, usefulness,
     warrantability, warrantedness, what is right, wholesomeness,
     wisdom, worthwhileness