property

[prop-er-tee] /ˈprɒp ər ti/
noun, plural properties.
1.
that which a person owns; the possession or possessions of a particular owner:
They lost all their property in the fire.
2.
goods, land, etc., considered as possessions:
The corporation is a means for the common ownership of property.
3.
a piece of land or real estate:
property on Main Street.
4.
ownership; right of possession, enjoyment, or disposal of anything, especially of something tangible:
to have property in land.
5.
something at the disposal of a person, a group of persons, or the community or public:
The secret of the invention became common property.
6.
an essential or distinctive attribute or quality of a thing:
the chemical and physical properties of an element.
7.
Logic.
  1. any attribute or characteristic.
  2. (in Aristotelian logic) an attribute not essential to a species but always connected with it and with it alone.
8.
Also called prop. a usually movable item, other than costumes or scenery, used on the set of a theater production, motion picture, etc.; any object handled or used by an actor in a performance.
9.
a written work, play, movie, etc., bought or optioned for commercial production or distribution.
10.
a person, especially one under contract in entertainment or sports, regarded as having commercial value:
an actor who was a hot property at the time.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English proprete possession, attribute, what is one's own, equivalent to propre proper + -te -ty2. See propriety
Related forms
propertyless, noun
Synonyms
1. belongings. Property, chattels, effects, estate, goods refer to what is owned. Property is the general word: She owns a great deal of property. He said that the umbrella was his property. Chattels is a term for pieces of personal property or movable possessions; it may be applied to livestock, automobiles, etc.: a mortgage on chattels. Effects is a term for any form of personal property, including even things of the least value: All his effects were insured against fire. Estate refers to property of any kind that has been, or is capable of being, handed down to descendants or otherwise disposed of in a will: He left most of his estate to his niece. It may consist of personal estate (money, valuables, securities, chattels, etc.), or real estate (land and buildings). Goods refers to household possessions or other movable property, especially that comprising the stock in trade of a business: The store arranged its goods on shelves. 3. acreage. 6. feature. See quality.
Examples from the web for properties
  • She noted that there have been a number of inquires about purchasing the properties in the past.
  • The properties of the waveguide were last measured three years ago.
  • The magic properties an object possessed trumped its material worth.
  • The inherent properties of pavers make them a great value for your money.
  • Merino wool is widely regarded as the ideal base layer for its ability to adjust its properties to differing situations.
  • They're actually easier at times once you get the properties into your head.
  • And, unless a crash intervenes, these properties will almost certainly sell at record prices.
  • It's a tantalizing idea: creating a material with ideal properties by customizing its atomic structure.
  • Such computers would harness the physical properties of quantum bits, or qubits, to expand the reach of computation.
  • She spent the rest of her life in science, much of it promoting the healing properties of radium.
British Dictionary definitions for properties

property

/ˈprɒpətɪ/
noun (pl) -ties
1.
something of value, either tangible, such as land, or intangible, such as patents, copyrights, etc
2.
(law) the right to possess, use, and dispose of anything
3.
possessions collectively or the fact of owning possessions of value
4.
  1. a piece of land or real estate, esp used for agricultural purposes
  2. (as modifier): property rights
5.
(mainly Austral) a ranch or station, esp a small one
6.
a quality, attribute, or distinctive feature of anything, esp a characteristic attribute such as the density or strength of a material
7.
(logic, obsolete) another name for proprium
8.
any movable object used on the set of a stage play or film Usually shortened to prop
Word Origin
C13: from Old French propriété, from Latin proprietās something personal, from proprius one's own
Word Origin and History for properties

property

n.

c.1300, properte, "nature, quality," later "possession, thing owned" (early 14c., a sense rare before 17c.), from an Anglo-French modification of Old French propriete "individuality, peculiarity; property" (12c., Modern French propreté; cf. propriety), from Latin proprietatem (nominative proprietas) "ownership, a property, propriety, quality," literally "special character" (a loan-translation of Greek idioma), noun of quality from proprius "one's own, special" (see proper). For "possessions, private property" Middle English sometimes used proper goods. Hot property "sensation, a success" is from 1947 in "Billboard" stories.

Slang definitions & phrases for properties

property

Related Terms

hot property