Proper Meaning
/ˈpɹɒpə/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjSuitable.
adjSuitable., Suited or acceptable to the purpose or circumstances; fit, suitable.
Sentence Examples
You don't have proper dignity as chief of the section.
Stockings should be of the proper size.
We should have had a proper discussion before voting.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Following the ____ procedure in the lab ensures accurate results every time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is ____ to acknowledge the contributions of all team members when presenting the results.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Latin propriusbor. Anglo-Norman proprebor. Middle English propre English proper From Middle English propre, from Anglo-Norman proper, propre, Old French propre (French: propre), from Latin proprius.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The proper study of mankind is man."
— 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
"One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination."
— 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
"This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking.[…]Indeed, all his features were in large mold, like the man himself, as though he had come from a day when skin garments made the proper garb of men."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"The Nippy became a national icon, symbolic of the girl next door, always approachable and proper; […]"
— 2014, Paul Chrystal, Tea: A Very British Beverage:
"These are divided into two great families, the vipers proper (Viperidae) and the pit-vipers (Crotalidae)."
— 1893, Annual of the Universal Medical Sciences:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Following the ____ procedure in the lab ensures accurate results every time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is ____ to acknowledge the contributions of all team members when presenting the results.