proper Meaning, Definition & Usage

adjective marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness
- proper medical treatment
- proper manners
adjective satellite having all the qualities typical of the thing specified; not just a snack"
- wanted a proper dinner
- he finally has a proper job
adjective satellite limited to the thing specified
- the city proper
- his claim is connected with the deed proper
adjective satellite appropriate for a condition or purpose or occasion or a person's character, needs
right.
- everything in its proper place
- the right man for the job
- she is not suitable for the position

OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius. Cf. Appropriate.

Belonging to one; one's own; individual. "His proper good" [i. e., his own possessions]. Chaucer. "My proper son." Shak.
Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. Dryden.
Belonging to the natural or essential constitution; peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites.
Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity. Coleridge.
Befitting one's nature, qualities, etc.; suitable in all respect; appropriate; right; fit; decent; as, water is the proper element for fish; a proper dress.
The proper study of mankind is man. Pope.

In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play, All proper to the spring, and sprightly May. Dryden.
Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. Archaic "Thou art a proper man." Chaucer.
Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child. Heb. xi. 23.
Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the whole; not appellative; -- opposed to common; as, a proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city.
Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper; the garden proper.
(Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any object used as a charge.