proprietor

American  

[pruh-prahy-i-ter] / prəˈpraɪ ɪ tər /

noun

• proprietors
  plural

1. 

   the owner of a business establishment, a hotel, etc.

2. a person who has the exclusive right or title to something; an owner, as of real property.

3. a group of proprietors; proprietary.

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proprietor British  

/ prəˈpraɪətə /

noun

1. an owner of an unincorporated business enterprise

2. a person enjoying exclusive right of ownership to some property

3. history a governor or body of governors of a proprietary colony

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonproprietor
  noun
• proprietorship
  noun
• proprietress
  noun
• proprietorial
  adjective
• proprietorially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• proprietors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of proprietor

First recorded in 1630–40; propriet(ary) + -or ²

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Explanation

Someone who owns a business or a property is a proprietor. A bookstore proprietor might wish she became a librarian instead so the books would come back. The first part of proprietor sounds a lot like "property," and a proprietor is someone with ownership of property. Sometimes a proprietor oversees the business, such as a restaurant proprietor who is also a chef or hostess, and other times a proprietor owns many businesses and has different people running them. A proprietor of a local bakery might make and sell his own donuts, while the proprietor of a chain of donut shops might work from an office managing the people who manage the stores.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

proprietor proprietors

In January 2025, the cafe was fined £18,000 and its proprietor Baris Yucel was given 100 hours of community service after admitting six criminal charges related to the Food Safety Act.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

A furniture store proprietor in Inglewood laid off his employees after the immigration enforcement surge last summer and says he now works twice as hard to earn half as much as he did before.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

“It’s like a West End show coming to an end,” said Jeremy King, veteran restaurateur and the proprietor at Simpson’s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

However, there are other risks associated with being a sole proprietor that should be considered.

From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026

When we arrived it was quite empty, except for a policeman sitting near the door, the wife of the proprietor back of the zinc bar, and the proprietor himself.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

The proprietors of Presley’s material are demanding more than $41 million in damages.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

North Hollywood-based After Hours Theatre Company has become one of the more reliable proprietors of immersive, interactive theater in the L.A. region.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The change would be even harder for landscapers who work as sole proprietors, with a single vehicle and limited space for charging and storing equipment.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

They play Bertha and Seth Holley, the married proprietors of the boarding house.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

There were no pheasant-shooting proprietors then, to see that the undergrowth was thinned, and not one thousandth part of the number of the present-day timber merchants who prune judiciously at the few remaining woods.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

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