property

American  

[prop-er-tee] / ˈprɒp ər ti /

noun

• properties
  plural

1. that which a person owns; the possession or possessions of a particular owner.

   They lost all their property in the fire.

2. goods, land, etc., considered as possessions.

   The corporation is a means for the common ownership of property.

3. a piece of land or real estate.

   property on Main Street.

   Synonyms:

   acreage

4. ownership; right of possession, enjoyment, or disposal of anything, especially of something tangible.

   to have property in land.

5. something at the disposal of a person, a group of persons, or the community or public.

   The secret of the invention became common property.

6. an essential or distinctive attribute or quality of a thing.

   the chemical and physical properties of an element.

   Synonyms:

   feature

7. Logic.

   1. any attribute or characteristic.

   2. (in Aristotelian logic) an attribute not essential to a species but always connected with it and with it alone.

8. Also called prop.  a usually movable item, other than costumes or scenery, used on the set of a theater production, motion picture, etc.; any object handled or used by an actor in a performance.

9. a written work, play, movie, etc., bought or optioned for commercial production or distribution.

10. a person, especially one under contract in entertainment or sports, regarded as having commercial value.

    an actor who was a hot property at the time.

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property British  

/ ˈprɒpətɪ /

noun

1. something of value, either tangible, such as land, or intangible, such as patents, copyrights, etc

2. law the right to possess, use, and dispose of anything

3. possessions collectively or the fact of owning possessions of value

4. 1. a piece of land or real estate, esp used for agricultural purposes

   2. ( as modifier )

      property rights

5. a ranch or station, esp a small one

6. a quality, attribute, or distinctive feature of anything, esp a characteristic attribute such as the density or strength of a material

7. obsolete logic another name for proprium

8. Usually shortened to: prop.  any movable object used on the set of a stage play or film

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Synonym Usage

Property, chattels, effects, estate, goods refer to what is owned. Property is the general word: She owns a great deal of property. He said that the umbrella was his property. Chattels is a term for pieces of personal property or movable possessions; it may be applied to livestock, automobiles, etc.: a mortgage on chattels. Effects is a term for any form of personal property, including even things of the least value: All his effects were insured against fire. Estate refers to property of any kind that has been, or is capable of being, handed down to descendants or otherwise disposed of in a will: He left most of his estate to his niece. It may consist of personal estate (money, valuables, securities, chattels, etc.), or real estate (land and buildings). Goods refers to household possessions or other movable property, especially that comprising the stock in trade of a business: The store arranged its goods on shelves. See quality.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• propertyless
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• properties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of property

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English proprete “possession, attribute, what is one's own,” from propre proper + -te -ty ²; see propriety

Explanation

What you own or have, like a car or clothes, is your property. The qualities that a thing has are its properties. Aloe is a plant with medicinal properties — it soothes burns. If you see a sign that says, "Private property, keep off," the land-owner does not want you to go on his or her land. If you go on it anyway, you're trespassing. You'll often hear people talking about property values. When they say this, they really just mean how much the land they own is worth. People like to talk about property values when they are on the rise. When they are falling, not so much.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

property properties

Another approach is to put assets - often property - into a trust with loved ones as appointed trustees in the hope of keeping it out of the care calculations.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

While state income-tax burdens might shrink, property taxes can jump, or vice versa.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Matthews said until the Blythe prison site’s infrastructure is separated from neighboring Ironwood State Prison and its bond obligations are resolved, the property can’t move through the state’s process for dispensing with surplus property.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

In July, So opened her gate to dozens of lands department officials and police, who declared the area government property.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

From the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, approximately twelve million Africans were transported across the Atlantic as human property.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Miranda said exasperated neighbors had banded together to put up more lighting and cameras to protect their properties, “but it really did feel like this is forever, because nothing was going to happen.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

Football players are using their NIL earnings to purchase properties in college towns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

"Numerous cars and properties have been damaged and people have told me of near misses of pedestrians, some pushing prams."

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Note: a small number of postcodes do not give an accurate constituency for all properties.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Twenty-six people from Jefferson’s properties had either been captured or went willingly with the British.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Related Words

• equity
• estate
• farm
• goods
• home
• house
• land
• ownership
• plot
• tract
• wealth
• worth