Properly

How to spell properly

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce properly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does properly mean?

1. adverbIn a correct, suitable, or appropriate manner.

Properly in a sentence

• The printer will only work if the cable is connected properly.

• She could not concentrate because she had not eaten properly all day.

Where does properly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin proprius, which literally meant 'one's own' or 'belonging to oneself', and so by extension 'particular' or 'characteristic'. From that root Latin formed the adjective that passed into Old French as propre, carrying senses of 'fitting', 'suitable', and 'correct'. English borrowed the adjective 'proper' in the 1300s, and the adverb 'properly' was built soon after by adding the native English suffix -ly, meaning 'in a correct or suitable manner'. The same proprius root still lives openly in everyday relatives such as 'property', 'appropriate', and 'proprietor', all sharing the idea of something belonging to or befitting a particular thing. Because the adverb simply stacks -ly onto the unchanged adjective, the spelling keeps both letter pairs intact: the double p of 'proper' and the clean -ly ending, with no dropped or doubled letters to wrestle with.

How the word is built

• proper (from Latin proprius: one's own, proper)
• -ly (adverb suffix)