proprietary

American  

[pruh-prahy-i-ter-ee] / prəˈpraɪ ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. belonging to a proprietor.

2. being a proprietor; holding property.

   the proprietary class.

3. pertaining to property or ownership.

   proprietary wealth.

4. belonging or controlled as property.

5. (of a brand name, product, service, formula, etc.) protected by a patent, copyright, or trademark.

   proprietary drugs; a proprietary name; a proprietary logo; a proprietary blend of ingredients.

6. privately owned and operated for profit.

   proprietary hospitals.

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noun

PLURAL

proprietaries

1. an owner or proprietor.

2. a body of proprietors.

3. American History.  the grantee or owner, or one of the grantees or owners, of a proprietary colony.

4. ownership.

5. something owned, especially real estate.

6. a proprietary medicine.

7. Also called proprietary school.  a school organized as a profit-making venture primarily to teach vocational skills or self-improvement techniques.

proprietary British  

/ prəˈpraɪɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to property or proprietors

2. privately owned and controlled

3. med of or denoting a drug or agent manufactured and distributed under a trade name Compare ethical

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noun

1. med a proprietary drug or agent

2. a proprietor or proprietors collectively

3. 1. right to property

   2. property owned

4. Also called: lord proprietary.  (in Colonial America) an owner, governor, or grantee of a proprietary colony

Other Word Forms

• nonproprietary adjective
• proprietarily adverb

Etymology

Origin of proprietary

1400–50; late Middle English (noun) < Medieval Latin proprietārius owner, noun use of Late Latin: of an owner, of ownership. See propriety, -ary

Example Sentences

Likewise, if you are a remote worker or handle sensitive information, such as financial records, client data or proprietary documents, it is essential always to use a VPN.

From Salon

The lawsuit alleges Greystar and other landlords were illegally using RealPage to share proprietary data so they could align their prices and drive up rents.

From Los Angeles Times

Matthews was assigned to work on developing a proprietary soda flavor.

From The Wall Street Journal

Meanwhile, Google has been creating an integrated ecosystem to build and distribute AI offerings, from custom tensor processing units to its own proprietary large language model.

From MarketWatch

“We’ve got a proprietary technology that takes in an unparalleled stack of biometric data and is able to use that data to drive the member journey,” Halevy says.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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