Properly

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɑ.pɚ.li/

Definitions

1. In the correct or appropriate manner; according to accepted standards or rules
2. In a manner that is fitting and conforms to expected norms or guidelines
3. In a way that aligns with standards of correctness and appropriateness

Etymology: The root of "properly" is the Latin "proprius," meaning one's own or belonging particularly to oneself, which passed into Anglo-Norman and then Middle English as "prope" before settling as "proper." The sense of "fitting" grew out of that notion of something belonging rightly to its own kind or situation: a thing was proper when it was suited to its nature. Over time, "proper" came to mean correct or conforming to accepted standards, and the adverb took on that same sense of doing something as it ought to be done. The adverb itself is simple in construction. English added the suffix "-ly" to the adjective "proper," a formation that goes back through Old English "-līċe," a suffix with roots in the Germanic word for "body" or "form," which is how many English adverbs of manner were built. Its sense of "in a fitting way" was therefore the natural result of attaching this old manner-marking ending to an adjective meaning "one's own" and then "fitting."

Synonyms: correctly, appropriately, suitably, rightly, adequately

Antonyms: improperly, incorrectly, unsuitably, wrongly, inadequately