proprio Italian · revision 37512

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1221, Inventario d'Orlando d'Ugolino|origins=la proprius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈprɔ.prjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''proprio''' (feminine propria, masculine plural propri, feminine plural proprie, adverb propriamente)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Tuscan mostly wrote ''propio'', still the popular form.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|proprius|t=one's own, peculiar]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Tuscan reduced it by dissimilation to ⟨propio⟩, the form the 16th-century writers still used;^(DELI 1999) Migliorini, quoted by DELI, observes that the Latin form won back its place, as it did in Portuguese ⟨proprio⟩, while the popular form survives in [[es|propio]].^(DELI 1999) The same Latin word is [[fr|propre]] and [[ro|propriu]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) The sense “neat, decent” is a calque of the French adjective.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Most Italian dictionaries derive the Latin adjective from the phrase [[m|la|prō prīvō|t=in a private capacity]], read as one word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) De Vaan prefers Forssman's explanation: [[m|la|pro-]] and an adjective [[itc-pro|*prijo-|t=own, dear]], from [[ine-pro|*priH-o-]], the source of [[sa|प्रिय|tr=priyá|t=dear, own]] and [[got|𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃|tr=freis|t=free]]; the prefix would have come from a verb ⟨*pro-priāre⟩, of which Festus keeps a trace.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in a Tuscan inventory of 1221, the Inventario d'Orlando d'Ugolino, in the sense “belonging to someone, not shared with others”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The noun, in the form ''propio'', “what belongs to someone”, is in Florentine texts of 1264–1284.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adverb, “precisely, exactly”, is in Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999) As a grammatical term, ''nome proprio'' “proper noun” is in Leon Battista Alberti about 1438, and ''proprio'' of a word that says exactly what is meant is in Benedetto Varchi before 1565.^(DELI 1999) The sense “seemly, decent”, recorded in 1831, follows the French adjective, like ''proprietà'' “neatness”, found from 1666.^(DELI 1999) The Old Italian noun could also mean property: Giovanni Villani discusses the dispute whether Christ “non ebbe propio” (owned nothing).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Grammars now use ''proprio'' as a possessive referring back to the subject, obligatory in impersonal sentences, and as the adverb “really, just”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1221 – The Inventario d'Orlando d'Ugolino has ''proprio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1264–1284 – The noun ''propio'' is recorded in Florentine texts.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses the adverb in the ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1438 – Leon Battista Alberti uses ''nome proprio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1666 – ''Proprietà'' “neatness” is recorded in Lorenzo Magalotti, after French.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1831 – ''Proprio'' “decent” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(possessive)'' One's [[m|en|own]], his, her, their, referring back to the subject and required in impersonal sentences: ''ognuno pensa ai propri interessi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|typical]], characteristic (with ''di''): ''la curiosità è propria dei bambini''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Appropriate, fitting: ''non è il luogo più proprio per litigare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Of a word or expression, literal, not figurative: ''il senso proprio di una parola''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(grammar)'' ''nome proprio'', a [[m|en|proper noun]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(dated)'' Neat, decent.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|really]], truly: ''è proprio una bella giornata''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Exactly, just: ''stavo proprio pensando a te''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # With a negative, at all: ''non ho proprio sonno''.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # What belongs to someone, one's own: ''lavorare in proprio'', to work for oneself.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[propriamente]]

+ * [[proprietà]]

+ * [[proprietario]]

+ * [[improprio]]

+ * [[appropriare]]

+ * [[espropriare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[privato]]

+ * [[la|proprius]]

+ * [[fr|propre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed expressions include ''amor proprio'' (self-esteem), ''vero e proprio'' (real, out-and-out), ''di proprio pugno'' (in one's own hand) and ''motu proprio'' (of one's own accord).^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) With a third-person subject ''proprio'' may replace ''suo'' and ''loro'' and is used for emphasis after them: ''è un'idea sua propria''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}