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

• proprietaries
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• nonproprietary
  adjective
• proprietarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• proprietaries
  plural

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

Explanation

If you own something, especially something of value, then you have proprietary rights. The word is most often used in relation to new inventions or patents. Proprietary refers to property: things that are owned by individuals or businesses. People talk about proprietary drugs, proprietary software, and other things that can only be made and sold by those who discovered or created them. A proprietary claim is usually protected by trademark or copyright. When you say you have a proprietary right to something you're saying to everyone else: "Hands off! This is mine." Years ago, owners of small mom-and-pop stores were known as proprietors.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

proprietary proprietaries

Driscoll’s has filed more than 20 lawsuits against companies in China, some of which it has said took its proprietary blueberry plants, propagated them and sold them to rival growers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

The researchers process PET plastic, discarded corn stalks and leaves, and other biomass using a proprietary technique known as oxidative hydrothermal dissolution.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

From the conclusions drawn by Bank of America’s proprietary “bubble risk indicator,” analysts remain relatively untroubled about U.S. stock indices and say equities will quickly bounce back from any pullback.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

In the build-it-or-buy-it debate, this is the ultimate example of buying to avoid the massive capital needed to develop proprietary models, or so the argument goes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The Cavendish understandably harbored a proprietary interest in the characteristics of the particle it had discovered, not to mention a native pride in its ability to extract precise measurements from its meticulously hand-built equipment.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Though Evergreen bought Intermountain Aviation, one of Doole's CIA "proprietaries," in 1975, the company insists that it has had nothing further to do with the agency.

From Time Magazine Archive

With the spread of the influenza epidemic pernicious drug vendors cried new merits for their proprietaries.

From Time Magazine Archive

We bought some old cannon from Boston; but these not being sufficient, we wrote to London for more, soliciting, at the same time, our proprietaries for some assistance, though without much expectation of obtaining it.

From Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin; Written by Himself. [Vol. 1 of 2] With His Most Interesting Essays, Letters, and Miscellaneous Writings; Familiar, Moral, Political, Economical, and Philosophical by Benjamin Franklin

Difficulties arose between the proprietaries and government of the province of Pennsylvania, which were referred to the mother country for adjustment.

From Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson

At length the Assembly determined to send Franklin to England, to present a petition to the king respecting the conduct of the proprietaries, viz.

From Heroes of Science: Physicists by William Garnett

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