- propose
- mid-14c., from O.Fr. proposer (12c.), from pro- "forth" + poser "put, place" (see pose (v.1)). Meaning "make an offer of marriage" is first recorded 1764. Proposition (n.) is attested from mid-14c.; the verb, in a sexual sense, is first attested 1936. Proposal is from 1650s; sense of "offer of marriage" is from 1749.