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.

---

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

---

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

Chief among them is getting the right mix of calcium oxide and its proprietary binding agent, so the pellets effectively store energy while holding their shape over many charge-discharge cycles.

From The Wall Street Journal

Reflection offers open-source AI models, allowing free download and modification, contrasting with proprietary models from OpenAI and Google.

From Barron's

Through a proprietary mixture of light nostalgia baiting and ever-present curiosity, Gellar has achieved a rare type of icon status — a superstar who owns her legacy, but isn’t willing to rest on her laurels.

From Salon

With that in mind, here are the five college basketball players who are making the most money from NIL, according to On3’s proprietary NIL algorithm, which is based on deal data, performance, influence and exposure.

From MarketWatch

The analyst notes that roughly 65% of global trade flows through the company’s network, so it retains an “unparalleled” proprietary data asset that continues to compound, which will support its ability to drive customer value.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• antidote
• drug
• elixir
• fix
• healing
• medication
• medicine
• panacea
• placebo
• quick fix
• recovery
• remedy
• treatment