property
UK /ˈpɹɒp.ə.ti/ · US /ˈpɹɑ.pɚ.ti/ noun, verb
Forms properties propertying propertied propretie
- noun Something that is owned. “Leave those books alone! They are my property.”
- noun A piece of real estate, such as a parcel of land. “There is a large house on the property.”
- noun (UK) Real estate; the business of selling houses. “He works in property as a housing consultant.”
- noun The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and disposing of a thing.
- noun An attribute or abstract quality associated with an individual, object or concept. “Charm is his most endearing property.”
- noun An attribute or abstract quality which is characteristic of a class of objects. “Matter can have many properties, including color, mass and density.”
- noun (computing) An editable or read-only parameter associated with an application, component or class; especially (object-oriented programming) one that encapsulates an underlying variable. “You need to set the debugging property to "verbose".”
- noun (usually in the plural, theater) A prop, an object used in a dramatic production. “Costumes and scenery are distinguished from property properly speaking.”
- verb (obsolete) To invest with properties, or qualities.
- verb (obsolete) To make a property of; to appropriate.
Synonyms
land parcel prop characteristic aught belongings owndom possession propriety holding place attribute dimension
Etymology
From Middle English propertee, properte, propirte, proprete, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French propreté, proprieté (“propriety, fitness, property”), from Latin proprietās (“a peculiarity, one's peculiar nature or quality, right or fact of possession, property”), from proprius (“special, particular, one's own”). Equivalent to proper + -ty. Doublet of propriety.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which is proper to anything; a peculiar quality of a thing; that which is inherent in a subject, or naturally essential to it; an attribute; as, sweetness is a property of sugar.
- noun An acquired or artificial quality; that which is given by art, or bestowed by man; as, the poem has the properties which constitute excellence.
- verb To invest which properties, or qualities. [Obs.] Shak.
- verb To make a property of; to appropriate. [Obs.]
Etymology [OE. proprete, OF. propreté property, F. propreté neatness, cleanliness, propriété property, fr. L. proprietas. See Proper, a., and cf. Propriety.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “property”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details