proprietary
pronunciation
How to pronounce proprietary in British English:
UK [prəˈpraɪətri]
How to pronounce proprietary in American English:
US [prəˈpraɪəteri]
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- Noun:
- an unincorporated business owned by a single person who is responsible for its liabilities and entitled to its profits
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- Adjective:
- protected by trademark or patent or copyright; made or produced or distributed by one having exclusive rights
Word Origin
- 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.
Example
- 1. This may push proprietary trading out of banks into hedge funds .
- 2. Compared with these disasters , proprietary trading losses are rounding errors .
- 3. They are closed worlds based on proprietary standards .
- 4. Multiple companies have released operating systems based on proprietary software .
- 5. Just try that in the proprietary world !