propone

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English proponen, borrowed from Latin prōpōnō (“to set forth, put forward, propose”),^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} formed from prō- (“forward”) and pōnō (“to put, place”).^[1][6][7] The OED compares Spanish proponer, Portuguese propor and Italian proporre, which are of the 13th century, and notes the earlier propose.^[1] The later propound is an alteration or variant of this verb, with an unetymological -d, perhaps after compound and expound.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bring or state a plea or defence before a court, in a Scots text of 1400 cited by the OED.^[1] The first general use, to put forward or assert, follows in 1402, in the Reply of Friar Daw Topias: For Austyns ne prechours proponen no siche pointis.^[2][1] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Collins put the word in the 14th century,^[4][8] Dictionary.com at 1325–75^[9] and Etymonline about 1400.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Elsewhere the word died out, and it survived mainly in Scots, where the OED's main legal sense is chiefly a term of Scots law.^[1][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Collins now label it Scottish.^[4][8] Through the 16th century it could also mean to offer as a reward, to set before someone as an example, or to set oneself a task, all now obsolete.^[1] Wright's dialect dictionary records it in Scots poems, including Burns's Would here propone defences (1786), and in Ramsay's proverb Man propones but God dispones (1737), but marks it as obsolete.^[10]

Timeline

• 1400 – in Scots law, to bring or state a plea or defence before a court (obsolete by 1838).^[1]
• 1402 – to put forward, set forth or propose for consideration.^[1][2]
• before 1500 – to place before someone; to offer as a reward or prize (obsolete by 1573).^[1]
• before 1500 – to set oneself a task; to intend (obsolete by 1657).^[1]
• 1555 – to set before someone as an example or aim (obsolete by 1658).^[1]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Scottish) To propose or propound; to put forward for consideration.^[4][8][6]
2. (Scottish) (law) To put forward a defence or excuse, especially before a court: propone defences.^[4][8][10]

Related words

• apropos
• proponent
• propound
• propose

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)