apropos

See also: àpropos, a propos, apropos', and à propos

English

WOTD – 9 September 2008

Alternative forms

• à propos
• àpropos

Etymology

Borrowed from French à propos (“on that subject”).

Similar in meaning and form, and to some extent etymology, to appropriate, but not a doublet of it.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌæp.ɹəˈpəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæp.ɹəˈpoʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ

Adjective

apropos (comparative more apropos, superlative most apropos)

1. Of an appropriate or pertinent nature.
   • 1877, Jules Verne, translated by Frederick Amadeus Malleson, Journey into the Interior of the Earth, Chapter VI:

     Nothing easier. I received not long ago a map from my friend, Augustus Petermann, at Leipzig. Nothing could be more apropos.

   • 1974 February 9, “Tufts Porno”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 33, page 2:

     A particularly apropos line many will remember from this film was the closing shot of a Times editorial reading "Is There No Sense of Decency?"

   • 2008 December, Anne Valdespino, “Mr. Stox”, in Orange Coast, volume 34, number 12, →ISSN, page 139:

     Served outside the shell and sliced in bite-sized pieces, it's as apropos for a first date as a business dinner.

2. By the way, incidental.
   • 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter II (The Science of Deduction), page 14:

     Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. "No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to [C. Auguste] Dupin," he observed. "Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends' thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour's silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as [Edgar Allan] Poe appeared to imagine."

Synonyms

• (by the way): by the way, incidentally, incidental

Derived terms

• apronym
• unapropos

Translations

of an appropriate or pertinent nature

• Arabic: مُنَاسِب m (munāsib)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 適切 / 适切 (zh) (shìqiè)

• Finnish: sopiva (fi), osuva (fi), oleellinen (fi)
• French: à propos (fr)
• Greek: επίκαιρος (el) m (epíkairos)
• Italian: a proposito
• Manx: traaoil
• Polish: dorzeczny, stosowny (pl), à propos (pl)
• Portuguese: apropriado (pt), pertinente (pt)
• Russian: уме́стный (ru) (uméstnyj), подходя́щий (ru) (podxodjáščij)
• Spanish: pertinente (es), oportuno (es), a propósito (es), propositivo, relevante (es)
• Swedish: apropå (sv), på tal om

Preposition

apropos

1. Regarding or concerning.
   • 2011, Jeremy Harding, “Diary”, in London Review of Books, 33.VII:

     Few have the same root and branch obsession with the recent past or the avenger’s recall (‘the necessity for long memory and sarcasm in argument’, as he wrote apropos the old left intelligentsia in New York).

Synonyms

• about, as for; See also Thesaurus:about

Antonyms

• malapropos

Derived terms

• apropos of
• apropos of nothing

Translations

regarding or concerning

• Danish: apropos
• Dutch: betreffend (nl)
• Finnish: a propos, puheen ollen
• French: à propos (fr)
• Greek: επ’ ευκαιρία (el) (ep’ efkairía)
• Hungarian: kapcsán (hu)
• Polish: à propos (pl)
• Portuguese: a propósito (pt)
• Romanian: apropo de
• Russian: кста́ти (ru) (kstáti)
• Spanish: a propósito (es)
• Swedish: apropå (sv)

Adverb

apropos

1. By the way.
2. Timely; at a good time.
3. To the purpose; appropriately.

Translations

by the way

• Danish: apropos
• Dutch: terloops (nl)
• Esperanto: parenteze
• Finnish: a propos, muuten (fi)
• French: à propos (fr)
• German: apropos (de)
• Hungarian: apropó (hu)
• Italian: a proposito
• Polish: à propos (pl)
• Portuguese: a propósito (pt)
• Romanian: apropo (ro)
• Russian: кста́ти (ru) (kstáti)
• Serbo-Croatian: usput (sh)
• Spanish: a propósito (es)
• Swedish: apropå (sv)

timely, at a good time

• Apiaká: mcconnell
• Danish: apropos
• Dutch: gepast (nl)
• Finnish: sopivasti (fi)
• German: apropos (de)
• Polish: à propos (pl), odpowiednio (pl), stosownie (pl)
• Russian: кста́ти (ru) (kstáti), во́время (ru) (vóvremja), уме́стно (ru) (uméstno)

Noun

apropos (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Fittingness, pertinence.

Anagrams

• Sapporo

Danish

Alternative forms

• à propos (nonstandard)

Etymology

Borrowed from French à propos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /apropo/, [apʰʁ̥opʰo], [ɑpʰʁ̥opʰo]

Noun

apropos n (singular definite aproposet or apropos'et, plural indefinite aproposer or apropos'er)

1. aside

Inflection

Declension of apropos

neuter gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	apropos	aproposet apropos'et	aproposer apropos'er	aproposerne apropos'erne
genitive	apropos'	aproposets apropos'ets	aproposers apropos'ers	aproposernes apropos'ernes

Preposition

apropos

1. apropos (regarding or concerning)

Adverb

apropos

1. apropos

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French à propos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a.pʁoˈpoː]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oː

Adverb

apropos

1. speaking of, apropos

   Synonyms: übrigens, nebenbei, bei der Gelegenheit, da wir gerade davon sprechen

   Apropos, Spanien: Wir fliegen ja nächsten Monat nach Madrid.

   Speaking of Spain, you know we’re flying to Madrid next month.

Further reading

• “apropos” in Duden online
• “apropos” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache