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Definition of proprietary - 12 dictionary results
pro⋅pri⋅e⋅tar⋅y
[pruh-prahy-i-ter-ee]
adjective, noun, plural -tar⋅ies.–adjective
| 1. | belonging to a proprietor. |
| 2. | being a proprietor; holding property: the proprietary class. |
| 3. | pertaining to property or ownership: proprietary wealth. |
| 4. | belonging or controlled as property. |
| 5. | manufactured and sold only by the owner of the patent, formula, brand name, or trademark associated with the product: proprietary medicine. |
| 6. | privately owned and operated for profit: proprietary hospitals. |
–noun
| 7. | an owner or proprietor. |
| 8. | a body of proprietors. |
| 9. | American History. the grantee or owner, or one of the grantees or owners, of a proprietary colony. |
| 10. | ownership. |
| 11. | something owned, esp. real estate. |
| 12. | a proprietary medicine. |
| 13. | Also called proprietary school. a school organized as a profit-making venture primarily to teach vocational skills or self-improvement techniques. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To proprietary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Proprietary
Pro*pri"e*ta*ry\, n.; pl. Proprietaries. [L. proprietarius: cf. F. propri['e]taire. See Propriety, and cf. Proprietor.]1. A proprietor or owner; one who has exclusive title to a thing; one who possesses, or holds the title to, a thing in his own right. --Fuller. 2. A body proprietors, taken collectively. 3. (Eccl.) A monk who had reserved goods and effects to himself, notwithstanding his renunciation of all at the time of profession.Proprietary
Pro*pri"e*ta*ry\, a. [L. proprietarius.] Belonging, or pertaining, to a proprietor; considered as property; owned; as, proprietary medicine. Proprietary articles, manufactured articles which some person or persons have exclusive right to make and sell. --U. S. Statutes.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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proprietary
adj.1. In marketroid-speak, superior; implies a product imbued with exclusive magic by the unmatched brilliance of the company's own hardware or software designers.
2. In the language of hackers and users, inferior; implies a product not conforming to open-systems standards, and thus one that puts the customer at the mercy of a vendor able to gouge freely on service and upgrade charges after the initial sale has locked the customer in. Often in the phrase "proprietary crap".
3. Synonym for closed-source, e.g. software issued in binary without source and under a restructive license.
Since the coining of the term open source, many hackers have made a conscious effort to distinguish between `proprietary' and `commercial' software. It is possible for software to be commercial (that is, intended to make a profit for the producers) without being proprietary. The reverse is also possible, for example in binary-only freeware.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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proprietary
c.1450, "possessing worldly goods in excess of a cleric's needs," from M.L. proprietarius "owner of property," noun use of L.L. adj. proprietarius "of a property holder," from L. proprietas "owner" (see property). Meaning "held in private ownership" is first attested 1589.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: pro·pri·e·tary
Pronunciation: pr&-'prI-&-"ter-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -tar·ies
1 : something that is used, produced, or marketed under exclusive legal right of the inventor or maker; specifically : a drug (as a patent medicine) that is protected by secrecy, patent, or copyright against free competition as to name, product, composition, or process of manufacture
2 : a business secretly owned by and run as a cover for an intelligence operation
Main Entry: proprietary
Function: adjective
1 a : held as property of a private owner b : of, relating to, or characteristic of a proprietor <proprietary rights>
2 : used, made, or marketed by one having the exclusive legal right proprietary process>
3 : privately owned and managed and run as a profit-making organization proprietary insurer> proprietary clinic>
4 : of or relating to the acts of a municipality which profit or benefit the municipality and for which it is answerable in negligence
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: 1pro·pri·e·tary
Pronunciation: p(r)&-'prI-&-"ter-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -tar·ies
0 : something that is used, produced, or marketed under exclusive legal right of the inventor or maker; specifically : a drug (as a patent medicine)that is protected by secrecy, patent, or copyright against free competition as to name, product, composition, or process of manufacture
Main Entry: 2proprietary
Function: adjective
1 : used, made, or marketed by one having the exclusive legal right proprietary drug>
2 : privately owned and managed and run as a profit-making organization proprietary clinic>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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proprietary pro·pri·e·tar·y (prə-prī'ĭ-těr'ē)
adj.
- Exclusively owned, as of a hospital.
- Owned by an individual or corporation under a trademark or patent, as of a drug.
A proprietary medicine.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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proprietary
1. In marketroid-speak, superior; implies a product imbued with exclusive magic by the unmatched brilliance of the company's own hardware or software designers.
2. In the language of hackers and users, inferior; implies a product not conforming to open-systems standards, and thus one that puts the customer at the mercy of a vendor who can inflate service and upgrade charges after the initial sale has locked the customer in.
[The Jargon File]
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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ɪˌtɛr