\Prop"er\, a. [OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius.
Cf. {Appropriate}.]
1. Belonging to one; one's own; individual. ``His proper
   good'' [i. e., his own possessions]. --Chaucer. ``My
   proper son.'' --Shak.
         Now learn the difference, at your proper cost,
         Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. --Dryden.
2. Belonging to the natural or essential constitution;
   peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his
   proper instincts and appetites.
         Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which
         constitute our proper humanity.       --Coleridge.
3. Befitting one's nature, qualities, etc.; suitable in all
   respect; appropriate; right; fit; decent; as, water is the
   proper element for fish; a proper dress.
         The proper study of mankind is man.   --Pope.
         In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play, All
         proper to the spring, and sprightly May. --Dryden.
4. Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [Archaic]
   ``Thou art a proper man.'' --Chaucer.
         Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents,
         because they saw he was a proper child. --Heb. xi.
                                               23.
5. Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the
   whole; not appellative; -- opposed to {common}; as, a
   proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city.
6. Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper;
   the garden proper.
7. (Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any
   object used as a charge.
{In proper}, individually; privately. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.
{Proper flower} or {corolla} (Bot.), one of the single
   florets, or corollets, in an aggregate or compound flower.
{Proper fraction} (Arith.) a fraction in which the numerator
   is less than the denominator.
{Proper nectary} (Bot.), a nectary separate from the petals
   and other parts of the flower. -- {Proper noun} (Gram.), a
   name belonging to an individual, by which it is
   distinguished from others of the same class; -- opposed to
   {common noun}; as, John, Boston, America.
{Proper perianth} or {involucre} (Bot.), that which incloses
   only a single flower.
{Proper receptacle} (Bot.), a receptacle which supports only
   a single flower or fructification.

\Prop"er\, adv.
Properly; hence, to a great degree; very; as, proper good.
[Colloq & Vulgar]