proprium

English

Etymology

From Latin.

Noun

proprium (plural propria)

1. (philosophy) A property that applies to all members of a species and only to them, serving to distinguish the species from other species within the same genus, yet is not part of the true definition or the essence of the species.
   • Abraham Stone, Humanities 116: Philosophical Perspectives on the Humanities, people.ucsc.edu[1]:

     (So you can use a proprium to pick out a species—for example, you could say: “a human is a risible mortal animal”—but, in that case, you aren’t picking out the species by its true definition.)

2. (theology) selfhood
   • 1758, Emanuel Swedenborg, The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine:

     Man of himself, so far as he is under the influence of his proprium, is worse than the brutes. If man should be led by his own proprium, he could not possibly be saved.

See also

• nomen proprium

Further reading

• “proprium”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “proprium”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “proprium”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Czech

Etymology

Compare German Nomen proprium (from Latin nomen proprium), Danish proprium and Slovak proprium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈproprɪjum]

Noun

proprium n

1. proper noun

   Synonym: vlastní jméno

   Antonym: apelativum

Declension

Declension of proprium (semisoft neuter foreign)

	singular	plural
nominative	proprium	propria
genitive	propria	proprií
dative	propriu	propriím
accusative	proprium	propria
vocative	proprium	propria
locative	propriu	propriích
instrumental	propriem	proprii

Further reading

• “proprium”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• proprium in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Danish

Etymology

From Latin (nōmen) proprium, neuter of proprius (“own, individual”).

Noun

proprium n (singular definite propriet, plural indefinite proprier)

1. (grammar) proper noun (the name of a particular person, place, organization or other individual entity)

Inflection

Declension of proprium

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	proprium	propriet	proprier	proprierne
genitive	propriums	propriets	propriers	propriernes

Synonyms

• egennavn

Latin

Adjective

proprium

1. nominative neuter singular of proprius

References

• proprium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

proprium n (definite singular propriet, indefinite plural proprier, definite plural propria or propriene)

1. (grammar) proper noun
2. (Christianity) part of mass which is particular to the date or situation

   Coordinate term: ordinarium

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

proprium n (definite singular propriet, indefinite plural proprium, definite plural propria)

1. (grammar) proper noun
2. (Christianity) part of mass which is particular to the date or situation

   Coordinate term: ordinarium

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin prōprium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈprɔ.prjum/
• Rhymes: -ɔprjum
• Syllabification: pro‧prium

Noun

proprium n

1. (Roman Catholicism) proper (part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event)

Declension

Declension of proprium

	singular	plural
nominative	proprium	propria
genitive	proprium	propriów
dative	proprium	propriom
accusative	proprium	propria
instrumental	proprium	propriami
locative	proprium	propriach
vocative	proprium	propria

Further reading

• proprium in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Slovak

Etymology

From Latin (nōmen) proprium, neuter of proprius (“own, individual”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈprɔpri̯um]

Noun

proprium n (relational adjective propriálny)

1. (grammar) proper noun

Declension

Declension of proprium

	singular	plural
nominative	proprium	propriá
genitive	propria	proprií
dative	propriu	propriám
accusative	proprium	propriá
locative	propriu	propriách
instrumental	propriom	propriami

Further reading

• “proprium”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025