proprietary

²pro·pri·e·tary

adj \prə-ˈprī-ə-ˌter-ē\

Definition of PROPRIETARY

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of an owner or title holder <proprietary rights>

2

: used, made, or marketed by one having the exclusive legal right <a proprietary process> <proprietary software>

3

: privately owned and managed and run as a profit-making organization <a proprietary clinic>

Examples of PROPRIETARY

1. The investors have a proprietary interest in the land.
2. The computer comes with the manufacturer's proprietary software.
3. “Merriam-Webster” is a proprietary name.
4. The journalist tried to get access to proprietary information.
5. By allowing less favorable results to remain buried, the agency puts proprietary interests ahead of the public interest, and doctors and the public come to believe prescription drugs are better than they are. That should stop. —Marcia Angell, New York Review of Books, 8 June 2006
6. It is a proprietary faith: no one better tell me what to do with my own land. —Lance Morrow, Time, 11 Sept. 2000
7. Many veterans have adopted a proprietary attitude toward the war, and they can get a bit belligerent about it. —Nicholas Proffitt, New York Times Book Review, 21 May 1989

Origin of PROPRIETARY

Late Latin proprietarius, from Latin proprietas property — more at property

First Known Use: 1589