PROPERTY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Property

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/prˈɑpərti/ Listen

noun

Property n. (pl. properties)

That which is proper to anything; a peculiar quality of a thing; that which is inherent in a subject, or naturally essential to it; an attribute; as, sweetness is a property of sugar. "Property is correctly a synonym for peculiar quality; but it is frequently used as coextensive with quality in general." Note: In physical science, the properties of matter are distinguished to the three following classes: 1. Physical properties, or those which result from the relations of bodies to the physical agents, light, heat, electricity, gravitation, cohesion, adhesion, etc., and which are exhibited without a change in the composition or kind of matter acted on. They are color, luster, opacity, transparency, hardness, sonorousness, density, crystalline form, solubility, capability of osmotic diffusion, vaporization, boiling, fusion, etc. 2. Chemical properties, or those which are conditioned by affinity and composition; thus, combustion, explosion, and certain solutions are reactions occasioned by chemical properties. Chemical properties are identical when there is identity of composition and structure, and change according as the composition changes. 3. Organoleptic properties, or those forming a class which can not be included in either of the other two divisions. They manifest themselves in the contact of substances with the organs of taste, touch, and smell, or otherwise affect the living organism, as in the manner of medicines and poisons.

An acquired or artificial quality; that which is given by art, or bestowed by man; as, the poem has the properties which constitute excellence.

The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying, and disposing of a thing; ownership; title. "Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity and property of blood." "Shall man assume a property in man?"

That to which a person has a legal title, whether in his possession or not; thing owned; an estate, whether in lands, goods, or money; as, a man of large property, or small property.

pl. All the adjuncts of a play except the scenery and the dresses of the actors; stage requisites. "I will draw a bill of properties."

Propriety; correctness. (Obs.)

Literary property. (Law) See under Literary.

Property man, one who has charge of the "properties" of a theater.

verb

Property v. t.

To invest which properties, or qualities. (Obs.)

To make a property of; to appropriate. (Obs.) "They have here propertied me."

See images of 'Property'

Etymology of 'Property'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Property" Quotes from Famous Books

... been conjectured, they might have been united to walk henceforward as one for life, but for the sad fact that the Earl of Fleetwood had two months and some days previously abjured his rank, his remaining property, and his title, to become, there is one report, the Brother Russett of the mountain monastery he visited in simple curiosity once with his betraying friend, Lord Feltre. Or some say, and so it may ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... "Briggs, or Colstane" (Catstane), in a plan belonging to Mr. Hutchison, of his estate of Caerlowrie, drawn up in 1797. In this plan the bridge (brigg) over the Almond, at the boathouse, is laid down. But in another older plan which Mr. H. has of the property, dated 1748, there is no bridge, and in its stead there is a representation of the ferry-boat ...

— Archaeological Essays, Vol. 1 • James Y. Simpson

... up the smaller part of the question first. Nut trees which are indigenous to any locality, or allied species from other countries having similar soil and climatic conditions, will grow and thrive on public grounds quite as well as upon private property. They will be as beautiful and as useful upon public grounds as they are upon private property, speaking in a large way, although disposal of their products will go along different channels perhaps. ...

— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Sixth Annual Meeting. Rochester, New York, September 1 and 2, 1915 • Various

... learned scruples which characterize the German explorer. You assume alternately the gait of the mole and of the eagle—and everything you do succeeds wonderfully, because amid your subterranean maneuvers and your airy flights you constantly preserve, as your own inalienable property, so much wit and knowledge, good sense and free fancy. If you had asked me to find a motto for your book I ...

— Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 1, "From Paris to Rome: - Years of Travel as a Virtuoso" • Franz Liszt; Letters assembled by La Mara and translated

... miles there were no less than four estancias owned by Englishmen, besides that of their first friend Mr. Percy. A ride of twenty miles is thought nothing of out on the Pampas. The estate immediately to the rear of their own was owned by Senor Jaqueras, a native. The tract upon the east of his property was owned by three young Englishmen, whose names were Herries, Cooper, and Farquhar. They had all been in the army, but had sold out, and agreed to come out ...

— Out on the Pampas - The Young Settlers • G. A. Henty

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