proprietary
[pruh-prahy-i-ter-ee]
- belonging to a proprietor.
- being a proprietor; holding property: the proprietary class.
- pertaining to property or ownership: proprietary wealth.
- belonging or controlled as property.
- (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.
- privately owned and operated for profit: proprietary hospitals.
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- an owner or proprietor.
- a body of proprietors.
- American History. the grantee or owner, or one of the grantees or owners, of a proprietary colony.
- ownership.
- something owned, especially real estate.
- a proprietary medicine.
- Also called proprietary school. a school organized as a profit-making venture primarily to teach vocational skills or self-improvement techniques.
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Origin of proprietary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for proprietary
Contemporary Examples
The Volcker Rule, a component of the far-reaching Dodd-Frank law, required large banks to cut back on proprietary trading.
That data is available only to publishers through their vendors and is proprietary unless released to the public.
Nor did Microsoft transform its proprietary operating system into open-source code.
The company created customized mixtapes at the point-of-sale with its own proprietary technology.
The CleanTech Open Global Forum, where they won the National Sustainability award in 2013, has lauded his proprietary system.
Historical Examples
He always said "your Bible," as if church members held a proprietary right.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
"My daughters," said Olivo, turning to Casanova with a proprietary air.
Casanova's HomecomingArthur Schnitzler
It will readily be seen how advantageous these proprietary rights must have been to the wife.
The Truth About WomanC. Gasquoine Hartley
The proprietary interest which she had always felt in him was more than ever hers now.
The PortygeeJoseph Crosby Lincoln
"I have a plan for her," said Harold, with a proprietary air.
QuinAlice Hegan Rice
proprietary
- of, relating to, or belonging to property or proprietors
- privately owned and controlled
- med of or denoting a drug or agent manufactured and distributed under a trade nameCompare ethical (def. 3)
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- med a proprietary drug or agent
- a proprietor or proprietors collectively
- right to property
- property owned
- Also called: lord proprietary (in Colonial America) an owner, governor, or grantee of a proprietary colony
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Word Origin
C15: from Late Latin proprietārius an owner, from proprius one's own
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
Word Origin and History for proprietary
adj.
mid-15c., "possessing worldly goods in excess of a cleric's needs," from Medieval Latin proprietarius "owner of property," noun use of Late Latin adjective proprietarius "of a property holder," from Latin proprietas "owner" (see property). Meaning "held in private ownership" is first attested 1580s. The word was used earlier in English as a noun meaning "proprietor," also "worldly person" (c.1400), from a noun use in French and Medieval Latin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
proprietary
(prə-prī′ĭ-tĕr′ē)- Exclusively owned, as of a hospital.
- Owned by an individual or corporation under a trademark or patent, as of a drug.
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- A proprietary medicine.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.