definitions

appropriate

[ adjective uh-proh-pree-it; verb uh-proh-pree-eyt ]
/ adjective əˈproʊ pri ɪt; verb əˈproʊ priˌeɪt /
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adjective

suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, person, occasion, etc.: an appropriate example; an appropriate dress.
belonging to or peculiar to a person; proper: Each played his appropriate part.

verb (used with object), ap·pro·pri·at·ed, ap·pro·pri·at·ing.

to set apart, authorize, or legislate for some specific purpose or use: The legislature appropriated funds for the university.
to take to or for oneself; take possession of.
to take without permission or consent; seize; expropriate: He appropriated the trust funds for himself.
to steal, especially to commit petty theft.

Nearby words

approbate, approbation, approbative, appropriable, appropriacy, appropriate, appropriation, approvable, approval, approve, approved school

Origin of appropriate

1515–25; < Late Latin appropriātus made one's own (past participle of appropriāre), equivalent to Latin ap- ap-1 + propri(us) one's own + -ātus -ate1

ANTONYMS FOR appropriate

1 unsuitable, inept.

Related forms

Can be confused

appropriate apropos expropriate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for appropriative

  • Ergo, the terrestrial or the Life of Nature ever the shadow and opposite of the Divine is appropriative, absorbing appetence.

    Anima Poet|Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  • It is the appropriative words, thine and mine, which make this history different from any other history.

    Religious Studies, Sketches and Poems|Harriet Beecher Stowe

British Dictionary definitions for appropriative

appropriate

adjective (əˈprəʊprɪɪt)

right or suitable; fitting
rare particular; ownthey had their appropriate methods

verb (əˈprəʊprɪˌeɪt) (tr)

to take for one's own use, esp illegally or without permission
to put aside (funds, etc) for a particular purpose or person

Derived Forms

Word Origin for appropriate

C15: from Late Latin appropriāre to make one's own, from Latin proprius one's own; see proper
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012