prop English · revision 39712

+ English has several words spelled ''prop''; the dictionaries give separate entries to the old word for a support, the theatre ''prop'' shortened from ''property'', and the ''prop'' shortened from ''propeller''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /pɹɒp/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /pɹɑp/, /pɹɒp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|support}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1440, Promptorium Parvulorum|origins=dum proppe}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun is probably [[bor|dum|proppe|t=vine prop, support]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010)^(Hoad 1986) a word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com relate it to the Middle Dutch and Middle Low German ''proppe'', a stopper,^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) and Hoad notes that the Middle Low German plug and the Old High German graft are alike in form, though the differences in meaning make the link difficult.^(Hoad 1986) The OED, in its 2007 revision, calls the origin uncertain: the Dutch ''proppe'' "vine prop" is first recorded only in 1599, in Kiliaan's dictionary, which may itself reflect the English word.^(OED 2026) Etymonline and Klein connect it with [[m|goh|pfropfo|t=shoot, graft]], from [[la|propāgō|t=a set, layer of a plant]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) but the OED rejects any link with the German word.^(OED 2026) The verb, first recorded in 1456, is apparently formed on the noun,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps with help from a Dutch verb.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A stick, pole, stake or beam used to support something or hold it in place: 1440, in the ''Promptorium Parvulorum'', an English–Latin dictionary.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates it to the mid 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that a prop is usually something that does not form part of the thing it holds up.^(Etymonline) In Scotland a prop was a pole or a cairn marking a boundary (1450), and the verb's first recorded sense, also Scottish, was to mark out a boundary with props (1456).^(OED 2026) The figurative noun, a person or thing that gives support, is recorded from 1562,^(OED 2026) and Johnson (1755) quotes Shakespeare's "the very staff of my age, my very prop".^(Johnson 1755) The verb meant to hold up with a prop from 1507, and to support a weak or failing cause from 1549,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) usually as ''prop up''.^(OED 2026) Later uses include a timber holding up the roof of a mine (1613), legs or arms in slang (1817), and in rugby either of the two front-row forwards beside the hooker (1950).^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) In Australia a horse that ''props'' stops suddenly when going at speed (1844), and the noun followed for such a stop (1880).^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1440 – a stick, pole or beam used as a support.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1450 – (Scotland) a pole or cairn used as a boundary marker.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1456 – verb, to mark a boundary with props (Scotland).^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1507 – verb, to hold up with a prop.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1549 – verb, to support a failing cause.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1562 – a person or thing that gives support.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1613 – a pit prop in a mine.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1817 – (slang) a leg or an arm.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1844 – verb, of a horse, to stop suddenly (Australia).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1950 – (rugby) a front-row forward.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A pole, beam or other rigid object used to hold something up or keep it in position: ''They used a plank as a prop for the sagging fence.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A person or thing that gives help or moral [[support]]: ''Her faith was the main prop of her old age.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (rugby) Either of the two forwards at the ends of the front row of a [[scrum]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To support something, or keep it from falling, with a prop; often with ''up'': ''He propped up the shelf with a brick.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To lean something against a support: ''She propped her bike against the railings.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # To keep a weak or failing person, cause or business going; usually ''prop up''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (Australia, New Zealand) Of a horse or person, to stop suddenly.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[propper]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|theatre property}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1841, Spirit of the Times (plural props)}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening of [[property]] in its theatrical sense, at first used only in the plural form [[m|en|props]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart treats the singular as a back-formation from that plural.^(Barnhart 1988) The plural [[m|en|properties]] had been used in the theatre since the 15th century in Etymonline's account;^(Etymonline) Barnhart's first date for it is 1578.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Stage properties, in the plural ''props'': 1841, in the American paper ''Spirit of the Times''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The singular is recorded from 1911.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates the singular to 1898.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In colloquial use ''props'' also became the title of the person in charge of the properties in a theatre (1877), and later the department responsible for them (1976).^(OED 2026) From 1898 the word was extended to any accessory or object used for effect,^(OED 2026) and Merriam-Webster includes any article used to create a realistic effect in a performance, an exhibit or a story.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1841 – ''props'', stage properties.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1877 – ''props'', the person in charge of properties.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1898 – ''props'', accessories in general.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1911 – singular ''prop'', a stage property.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An object used by actors in a play or film, such as a piece of furniture or a weapon: ''The sword in the duel scene was only a wooden prop.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Any object used to create an effect or to support an act or image: ''The photographer used an old bicycle as a prop.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ {{homograph|3|propeller}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1914, Flight}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening of [[propeller]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A propeller, especially on an aircraft: 1914, in the magazine ''Flight''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart notes that since the 1940s the word has formed compounds for aircraft engines driving a propeller, such as ''prop-fan'', ''prop-jet'' and [[turboprop]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1914 – a propeller, especially of an aircraft.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # (informal) A [[propeller]], especially one on an [[aircraft]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[turboprop]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[property]]

+ * [[propeller]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The OED also has rarer words of the same spelling: a plug or stopper (1513, from Dutch or Middle Low German), a shortening of ''proposition'' (1607), a seashell used in a gambling game (1830, of unknown origin) and, in slang, a tiepin (1850, in Dickens).^(OED 2026) Green's Dictionary of Slang records the tiepin sense from 1840,^(GDoS) and in Shetland dialect ''prop'' meant a cork or bung.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}