First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
1proprietary
noun pro·pri·e·tary \prə-ˈprī-ə-ˌter-ē\
plural pro·pri·e·tar·ies
Definition of PROPRIETARY
1
: one that possesses, owns, or holds exclusive right to something; specifically : proprietor 1
2
: something that is used, produced, or marketed under exclusive legal right of the inventor or maker; specifically : a drug (as a patent medicine) that is protected by secrecy, patent, or copyright against free competition as to name, product, composition, or process of manufacture
3
: a business secretly owned by and run as a cover for an intelligence organization
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Origin of PROPRIETARY
Middle English propietarie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin propietarius, from Late Latin, adjective (see 2proprietary)
Rhymes with PROPRIETARY
apothecary, bicentenary, confectionary, confectionery, consigliere, constabulary, contemporary, deflationary, disciplinary, discretionary, diversionary, epistolary, exclusionary, expansionary, extemporary, extraordinary, fiduciary, hereditary, illusionary, imaginary, incendiary, inflationary, insanitary, intercalary, involuntary, itinerary, judiciary, lending library, marionberry, obituary, olallieberry, on the contrary, pecuniary, pituitary, precautionary, preliminary, presidiary, probationary, provisionary, reactionary, subliterary, subsidiary, tercentenary, unnecessary, veterinary, vocabulary, voluptuary
2proprietary
adjective pro·pri·e·tary \prə-ˈprī-ə-ˌter-ē\
: of or like that of an owner
: used, made, or sold only by the particular person or company that has the legal right to do so
: kept private by an owner
Full Definition of PROPRIETARY
1
: of, relating to, or characteristic of an owner or title holder <proprietary rights>
2
: used, made, or marketed by one having the exclusive legal right <a proprietary process> <proprietary software>
3
: privately owned and managed and run as a profit-making organization <a proprietary clinic>
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Examples of PROPRIETARY
- By allowing less favorable results to remain buried, the agency puts proprietary interests ahead of the public interest, and doctors and the public come to believe prescription drugs are better than they are. That should stop. —Marcia Angell, New York Review of Books, 8 June 2006
- It is a proprietary faith: no one better tell me what to do with my own land. —Lance Morrow, Time, 11 Sept. 2000
- Many veterans have adopted a proprietary attitude toward the war, and they can get a bit belligerent about it. —Nicholas Proffitt, New York Times Book Review, 21 May 1989
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Origin of PROPRIETARY
Late Latin proprietarius, from Latin proprietas property — more at property
First Known Use: 1589
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