property

[prop-er-tee]

noun

plural

properties 

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.

property

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• propertyless noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of property¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of property¹

C13: from Old French propriété, from Latin proprietās something personal, from proprius one's own

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

If the glut of unsold grapes continues into next year, he said he may need to sell pieces of his family’s sprawling property to developers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A man is in a life-threatening condition after being shot by Metropolitan Police officers who entered a property in north-east London by force.

Read more on BBC

However, this should be partly offset by HSBC’s controlled loan growth, a reduction in high-risk commercial property exposure, and steady internal capital generation, they say.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Sherrill wants to limit property taxes by forcing certain school districts to merge, which would reduce costly redundancies.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For the next five years, cities can exempt properties in high-risk fire areas, historic preservation zones and low-resource areas — an attempt to mitigate the bill’s effect on gentrification in low-income neighborhoods.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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