Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Propriety
Pro-pri′e-ty
,Noun.
pl.
Proprieties
(#)
. 1.
Individual right to hold property; ownership by personal title; property.
[Obs.]
“Onles this propriety be exiled.” Robynson (More's Utopia).
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.
2.
That which is proper or peculiar; an inherent property or quality; peculiarity.
[Obs.]
Bacon.
We find no mention hereof in ancient zoographers, . . . who seldom forget
proprieties
of such a nature. Sir T. Browne.
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;
“The rule of propriety,” as,
propriety
of behavior, language, manners, etc. Locke.
Webster 1828 Edition
Propriety
PROPRI'ETY
,Noun.
1.
Property; peculiar or exclusive right of possession; ownership. [This primary sense of the word, as used by Locke, Milton, Dryden, &c. seems not to be nearly or wholly obsolete. See Property.]2.
Fitness; suitableness; appropriateness; consonance with established principles, rules or customs; justness; accuracy. Propriety of conduct, in a moral sense, consists in its conformity to the moral law; propriety of behavior, consists in conformity to the established rules of decorum; propriety in language, is correctness in the use of words and phrases, according to established usage, which constitutes the rule of speaking and writing.3.
Proper state.