Proprieties

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Conventions or rules that govern acceptable behavior in social settings
2. norms that dictate the proper conduct expected in specific situations
3. standards of etiquette that guide interactions and expressions among individuals

Etymology: "Proprieties" is the plural of "propriety," and the surprise lies in the sense it started with. In late Middle English, "propriete" meant ownership, a claim to something as one's own, and it came into English through Anglo-Norman and Middle French from the Latin "proprietas," meaning a property or peculiar quality of a thing. The social sense of fitting conduct grew out of the idea of what is proper, meaning belonging or suited to a particular person or situation. The word is a doublet of "property," the two forms having split from the same Latin source and travelled into English by different routes. "Property" kept the sense of ownership and possessions, while "propriety" drifted toward what is fitting and appropriate. The plural form usually refers to the individual rules of good manners that a society expects people to observe.

Synonyms: decency, etiquette, manners, decorum

Antonyms: impropriety, indecency