proper

Prop"er , adv. Properly; hence, to a great degree; very; as, proper good. [Colloq & Vulgar]

Prop"er (?), a. [OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius. Cf. Appropriate.]

1. Belonging to one; one's own; individual. "His proper good" [i. e., his own possessions]. Chaucer. "My proper son." Shak.

Now learn the difference, at your proper cost,
Betwixt true valor and an empty boast.

2. Belonging to the natural or essential constitution; peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites.

Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity.

3. Befitting one's nature, qualities, etc.; suitable in all respect; appropriate; right; fit; decent; as, water is the proper element for fish; a proper dress.

The proper study of mankind is man.

In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play,
All proper to the spring, and sprightly May.

4. Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [Archaic] "Thou art a proper man." Chaucer.

Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child.

5. Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the whole; not appellative; -- opposed to common; as, a proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city.

6. Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper; the garden proper.

7. (Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any object used as a charge.

In proper, individually; privately. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor. -- Proper flower or corolla (Bot.), one of the single florets, or corollets, in an aggregate or compound flower. -- Proper fraction (Arith.) a fraction in which the numerator is less than the denominator. -- Proper nectary (Bot.), a nectary separate from the petals and other parts of the flower. -- Proper noun (Gram.), a name belonging to an individual, by which it is distinguished from others of the same class; -- opposed to common noun; as, John, Boston, America. -- Proper perianth or involucre (Bot.), that which incloses only a single flower. -- Proper receptacle (Bot.), a receptacle which supports only a single flower or fructification.