- property
- c.1300, "nature, quality," later "possession" (a sense rare before 17c.), from an Anglo-Fr. modification of O.Fr. propriete (12c., Fr. propreté), from L. proprietatem (nom. proprietas) "ownership, property, propriety," lit. "special character" (a loan-translation of Gk. idioma), noun of quality from proprius "one's own, special" (see proper). Propertied "holding property" is from 1760. Hot property "sensation, a success" is from 1958.