Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word propriedade

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1294 a Galician charter More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin proprietas
Ultimate origin
Latin proprius
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin proprius
French propre
Italian proprio
Portuguese próprio
Romanian propriu
Spanish propio
Latin proprietās
English propriety
French propriété
Romanian proprietate
Italian proprietà
Portuguese propriedade
Spanish propiedad
From the same root
English proper ← proprius
Latin appropriō ← proprius
Latin improprius ← proprius
Latin propriē ← proprius
Latin propriō ← proprius
English property ← proprietās
Latin proprietārius ← proprietās

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /pɾo.pɾi.eˈda.d͡ʒi/, /pɾo.pɾjeˈda.d͡ʒi/[1]
  • Portugal: /pɾu.pɾi.ɨˈda.dɨ/, [pɾu.pɾi.ɨˈða.ðɨ], /pɾu.pɾjɨˈda.dɨ/[1]
  • Portugal, Southern: /pɾu.pɾi.ɨˈda.dɨ/, /pɾu.pɾjɨˈda.dɨ/[1]
  • Northeast-Brazil: /pɾɔ.pɾi.ɛ.ˈda.dɪ/, /pɾɔ.pɾjɛ.ˈda.dɪ/[1]

Forms

propriedade f (plural propriedades)[1] Medieval texts also write propiedade (1297) and propiadade (1394), and Houaiss records propriadade (14th century), propiadades and propeadade (15th).[2][3] A private letter of 1565 has propyadades.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin proprietās (“special character; ownership”).[3][5][1] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.[6]

The same Latin word gave Galician propiedade, Spanish propiedad (from older propriedad), French propriété and Italian proprietà; the French word was borrowed in 1174–1176.[1][7][8]

The Latin noun is formed from proprius (“one's own, peculiar”) with the suffix -tās.[9][1] Houaiss connects the adjective with prope (“near”).[3] De Vaan finds most likely Forssman's explanation from Proto-Indo-European *priH-o- (“own, dear”), with the prefix pro-.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's earliest record is a charter of 1294, a posison et a propriedade deles “the possession and ownership of them”, and the legal pair of possession and ownership recurs in 1297, 1320 and 1364.[2] Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 13th century, but Houaiss gives the sense “ownership” only from the 14th.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense came first in the records;[2][3] propriedade “special quality” is recorded in the 15th century.[2][3] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as real estate held with absolute power to sell, pledge or dispose of it.[11] Morais (1789) adds “an attribute connected with the essence of a thing” and propriedade dos termos, the use of words in their proper sense.[12] The modern dictionaries add the physical sense, a quality inherent in bodies, and the legal right to use, enjoy and dispose of goods.[13][14]

Timeline

  • 1294 – a propriedade deles in a charter.[2]
  • 1297 – the form propiedade.[2]
  • 1394 – the form propiadade.[2]
  • 15th century – propiadades “special qualities”.[3]
  • c. 1450 – the Livro das tres vertudes uses the word.[15]
  • 1611 – Barbosa glosses it with the Latin proprietas.[16]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as real estate held outright.[11]
  • 1789 – Morais adds “attribute” and propriedade dos termos.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A quality proper to something; an inherent property or attribute: as propriedades dos metais.[3][14][1]
  2. ownership; the legal right to use, enjoy and dispose of something.[3][14][17]
  3. Something owned; a possession.[14][18][1]
  4. A piece of land or a building; an estate, a farm.[3][14][1]
  5. Appropriateness, especially the apt use of words: Fala com muita propriedade.[14][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. propriedade
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. propriedade
  4. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. propriedade
  5. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. prio
  6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. propriedade
  7. ^ 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. propiedad
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. propriété
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. proprietās
  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. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. propriedade
  12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 256
  13. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. propriedade
  14. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. propriedade
  15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. propriedade
  16. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. propriedade
  17. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. propriedade
  18. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. propriedade

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Propriedade.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/propriedade. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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