Other forms: proprieties
Propriety is correct behaviour according to accepted standards. Observe the proprieties, a breach of propriety, questions of propriety.
It judges conduct against what is expected rather than against right and wrong, which is why a thing can be perfectly legal and still improper. In public life, propriety is the standard applied to conduct that is not corrupt but looks wrong. Note property, which is the same word arriving separately.
1nounproprietyCorrect behaviour according to accepted standards.
“Her grandmother, a stickler for propriety, was shocked when she wore jeans to church.”
propriety is a standard of conduct.
Latin proprietas means ownership or a special quality, from proprius, one's own. Property is the same word arriving separately.
Proto-Indo-European
*preyH-
Latin
proprietās
Middle French
proprieté
Anglo-Norman
propreté
Middle English
proprietee
English, today
propriety
Built from
From late Middle English proprietee, propretee, propriete (“ownership”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman propreté, Middle French proprieté, from Latin proprietās. by surface analysis, prop(e)r + proper + iety. a doublet of property.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA