Etymologically
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improper

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪmˈpɹɒp.ə/[1]
  • US: /ɪmˈpɹɑ.pɚ/[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from French impropre or directly borrowed from Latin improprius (“unsuitable, not proper”),[2][3][4][5][6] formed from in- (“not”) and proprius (“one's own, particular”), the source of proper.[6][7][8] The French word is recorded from 1372.[9] The OED instead treats it as formed from English im- + proper on the model of the French and Latin words.[9] Barnhart takes it from Old French impropre.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not truly belonging to the thing in question; not in accordance with fact, reason or rule, incorrect: 1531, in Elyot's Boke Named the Gouernour.[9] Etymonline dates the adjective, in the sense "not true", to the mid-15th century,[5] and Barnhart finds it implied before 1393 in the adverb improprelich, improperly.[8]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant "incorrect, irregular", a sense that gave the mathematical improper fraction, one whose numerator is at least as great as its denominator, recorded from 1552 in Recorde's Ground of Artes.[9][2] From 1570 it also meant unsuitable or ill-adapted to a purpose,[9] and Johnson (1755) listed "not well adapted; unqualified" and "unfit" as its first senses.[10] The sense "contrary to good manners, modesty or decency" appears in 1739, in a letter of Lord Chesterfield.[9][5] A rare verb improper, to behave improperly, is recorded once, in Horace Walpole (1791).[9]

Timeline

  • 1531 – not in accordance with fact or rule; incorrect.[9]
  • 1552 – improper fraction.[9]
  • 1570 – unsuitable, unfit, inappropriate.[9][5]
  • 1739 – contrary to good manners or decency; unseemly.[9][5]
  • 1791 – verb, to behave improperly (rare, obsolete).[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not in keeping with accepted standards of propriety, modesty or decency; unseemly: an improper remark at the dinner table.[11][7][9]
  2. Not suited to a use or occasion; inappropriate: Using a kitchen knife as a screwdriver is an improper use of the tool.[11][7]
  3. Not in accordance with fact, rule or correct procedure; incorrect or irregular: improper payments to officials.[7][11][9]
  4. improper fraction: a fraction whose numerator is equal to or greater than its denominator.[9][2]

Word family

  • improperly
  • improperness
  • improper fraction
  • improper integral

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins