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PlainSpell

property

pro·per·ty/ˈpɹɑ.pɚ.ti/noun

property is spelled P-R-O-P-E-R-T-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables (pro·per·ty). It appears 129 times per million words in written English, the 810th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, property means “Something that is owned” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of property is properties.

How many letters and syllables are in property?

Letters8: P-R-O-P-E-R-T-Y
Syllables3: pro·per·ty
In writing129 times per million words; the 810th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is property?

Property appears 129 times per million words in written English, the 810th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce property?

  • UK /ˈpɹɒp.ə.ti/
  • US /ˈpɹɑ.pɚ.ti/
  • US [ˈpɹɑ.pɚ.ɾi]

Property has 3 syllables, split pro·per·ty in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-property.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of property

  • properties plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • propretie
  • propertying participle, present
  • propertied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does property mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Something that is owned.

    Leave those books alone! They are my property.

  2. 2

    A piece of real estate, such as a parcel of land.

    There is a large house on the property.

  3. 3

    UKReal estate; the business of selling houses.

    He works in property as a housing consultant.

  4. 4

    The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and disposing of a thing.

  5. 5

    An attribute or abstract quality associated with an individual, object or concept.

    Charm is his most endearing property.

  6. 6

    An attribute or abstract quality which is characteristic of a class of objects.

    Matter can have many properties, including color, mass and density.

  7. 7

    An editable or read-only parameter associated with an application, component or class; especially (object-oriented programming) one that encapsulates an underlying variable.

    You need to set the debugging property to "verbose".

  8. 8

    A prop, an object used in a dramatic production.

    Costumes and scenery are distinguished from property properly speaking.

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo invest with properties, or qualities.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo make a property of; to appropriate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate property?

Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of property: PPE, Prop., prop..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Property in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpropriété (something owned), accessoire (an object used in a dramatic production)
GermanEigentum, Besitz (something owned), Anwesen, Grundbesitz, Grundstück (piece of real estate)
Portuguesepropriedade, bem, imóvel (something owned), possessão (exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and…)
Spanishpropiedad, posesión, inmueble, bien (something owned), finca (piece of real estate)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does property come from?

From Middle English propertee, properte, propirte, proprete, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French propreté, proprieté (“propriety, fitness, property”), from Latin proprietās (“a peculiarity, one's peculiar nature or quality, right or fact of possession, property”), from proprius (“special, particular, one's own”). Equivalent to proper + -ty. Doublet of propriety.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after property