propio

Forms

propio (feminine propia, masculine plural propios, feminine plural propias)^[1] Old Spanish proprio, with the second r, in documents of 1184 and 1194 and still in Alfonso de Palencia and Nebrija.^[2] Propio is found from 1206 and is the only form in Covarrubias and the Quijote.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōprius (“one's own, particular”).^[2][4][1][5] The older form was proprio, from which the DLE derives the word; the second ⟨r⟩ was lost by dissimilation.^[6][2] The same loss occurred to some extent in Portuguese, French and Italian, but became general only in Spanish and Catalan.^[2] The same Latin word is Catalan propi, Portuguese próprio, French propre and Italian proprio.^[2][7][8][9]

De Vaan finds most likely Forssman's connection with Proto-Italic *prijo- (“own, dear”) and Proto-Indo-European *priH-o-, the source of Proto-Germanic *frija- (“free, dear, own”).^[10] The DHLF, Bénaben, Gómez de Silva and Segura Munguía derive it instead from a phrase meaning “as a private matter”, made of prō and prīvus (“single, private”).^{[9][5][11][12]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas finds peropio in a charter of 965 and propio in 1206.^[2][4] In Alfonso X's Lapidario a stone has „color proprio”, a colour of its own, unlike the air, which takes every colour.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In the Golden Age propio could replace mismo “same, self”, as in Lope's „yo propio la muerte os diera”; today this is usual only when emphatic (el propio director) or in hacer lo propio “to do the same”, a use Portuguese alone shares.^[2] As a noun it meant a servant or a messenger sent on purpose: in the Quijote a letter is sent „con un propio”.^[2][14] Covarrubias in 1611 defined it simply as what belongs to each person.^[15] By 1843 the Academy listed the noun “courier on foot”, the propios or estates of a town, and the proper noun (nombre propio).^[16]

In Chile al propio means “on purpose”, which Román explains by confusion with the noun “messenger”; the DLE gives the same sense for Costa Rica.^[17][6] Batres in Guatemala and Román in Chile censured lo propio for lo mismo.^[18][17] In Honduras propio can mean “yes, of course”.^[19]

Timeline

• 965 – first record, peropio, in a charter.^[2]
• 1184 – the form proprio in a document.^[13] Catalan already has dissimilated propios in a Latin document from Poblet of the same year.^[2][7]
• 1206 – the form propio.^[2]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario writes proprio “characteristic”.^[13]
• c. 1250 – first record of propiedad.^[4]
• 1438 – first record of impropio.^[4]
• 1525 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City: el oro sea mío propio.^[20]
• 1611 – Covarrubias has only the form propio.^[15][2]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin proprius.^[21]

Meanings

Adjective

1. own: belonging exclusively to someone: Quieren tener casa propia.^[6][1]
2. characteristic, typical of a person or thing: Ese gesto es muy propio de él.^[6][1]
3. Fitting, proper: No es lo propio en una boda.^[6]
4. Natural, not false or artificial, as in pelo propio.^[6]
5. Referring emphatically to the very person or thing spoken of: Lo dijo el propio alcalde.^[6][22]
6. Of the sense of a word: literal, as opposed to figurative.^[6]
7. Of a copy or likeness: very exact.^[6]
8. (philosophy) Of an accident: inseparable from the essence of a thing.^[6]

Noun

1. A messenger sent expressly with a letter or message.^[6]
2. (usually in the plural) An estate or property of a town whose income pays public expenses.^[6]

Word family

• propiedad
• propietario
• apropiar
• expropiar
• impropio
• amor propio
• nombre propio

Related words

• Latin proprius
• Catalan propi
• Portuguese próprio
• French propre

Usage notes

Set phrases include amor propio “self-esteem”, nombre propio “proper noun” and por cuenta propia “on one's own account”.^[1][23]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 662
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. propio
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. propio
5. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. propio
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. propio
7. ^ a b Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 829
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2734
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. propre
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 576
12. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 609
13. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. propio
14. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 913
15. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1232
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 593
17. ^ a b Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 464
18. ^ Batres Jáuregui, Antonio (1892), Vicios del lenguaje y provincialismos de Guatemala, Guatemala: Encuadernación y Tipografía Nacional, p. 471
19. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. propio
20. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. propio
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 817
22. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. propio
23. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1379