proper noun

1590

properly speaking (= really), a science,

mmwmm0

proper 'noun (also .proper 'name) noun (grammar ?&) a word that is the name of a person, a place, an institution, etc. and is written with a capital letter, for example Tom, Mrs Jones, Rome, Texas, the Rhine, the White House (A, l/lf^W^# ) —compare

ABSTRACT NOUN, COMMON NOUN

propertied /'prnpatid; NAmE 'praipartid/ adj. [only before noun] (formal) owning property, especially land W

MWW; (A# ) writerW

prop erty 0*w /'prnpati; NAmE 'praiparti/ noun (pi. -ies)

1                  [U] a thing or things that are owned by sb; a posses­

sion or possessions FJf'&ffi; MA; PH#/: This building is government property. 0 Be

careful not to damage other people’s property, /bE'SlJM R £ij A W M #J o — see also intellectual property, lost property, public property 2 [u] land and buildings 7 Tfl W; M W: The price of property has risen enormously. ^•i&/£cW1ft1&AlllS±Et-70 0 property prices )0 a property developer

o note at building 3 [C] a building or buildings and the surrounding land JII1KI; £E II; W : There are a lot of empty properties in the area. EWi&E O note at building 4 [C, usually pi.] (formal) a quality or characteristic that sth has 14M; #14: Compare the physical properties of the two substances, tt TWi3#140 o a plant with medicinal properties IWfllfi#/ proph ecy /'prnfasi; NAmE 'pra:f-/ noun (pi. -ies) 1 [c] a statement that sth will happen in the future, especially one made by sb with religious or magic powers MW: to fulfil a prophecy (= make it come true) Q M M W

2                  [U] (formal) the power of being able to say what will happen in the future M W til A: She was believed to have the gift of prophecy. ijfiftfeWMWWAJKo

proph esy /'profasai; NAmE 'pra:f-/ verb (proph-es-ies, proph-esy-ing, proph-es-ied, proph es ied) to say what will happen in the future (done in the past using reli­gious or magic powers) MW; MW: [VN] to prophesy war MWW$cW 0 [V that] She prophesied that she would win a gold medal. MMW § [also V speech]

prophet /'profit; NAmE 'pra:f-/ noun 1 [C] (in the Chris­tian, Jewish and Muslim religions) a person sent by God to teach the people and give them messages from God ( 1f t.       2 the

Prophet [sing] Muhammad, who founded the religion of Islam  ( #f#rAffcW'fi!l#J A ) 3 a person who

claims to know what will happen in the future M W I5C ; M W W 4 ~ (of sth) a person who teaches or supports a new idea, theory, etc. flW#; W#5’#;

# : William Morris was one of the early prophets of socialism. jftjjfiEHHStH

5 the Prophets [pi.] the name used for some books of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible ( <

IBW> fn   WW ) W D32I see doom n.

proph et ess /'prnfites; .prnfi'tes; NAmE 'praifates/ noun a woman who is a prophet(l), (3), (4) tMW^; All

proph et ic /pra'fetik/ adj. (formal) 1 correctly stating or showing what will happen in the future IE 5$ M W W; ETMH W: Many of his warnings proved prophetic. 1ib       WAJ&W m W^ 2 like or

connected with a prophet or prophets M   ; ^M

WW; MAW W: the prophetic books of the Old Testa­ment { < J $$„>' J0 W >. & W 4S > prophetically /pra'fetikli/ adv.

prophy lac tic /.profi'laektik; NAmE ,pra:f-/ adj., noun madj. (medical £g) done or used in order to prevent a disease M (ft: prophylactic treatment MKrl^Tr ► prophy lac tic-al ly /-kli/ adv. unoun 1 (medical IS) a medicine, device or course of action that prevents disease       ft

Mi ) 2 (NAmE, formal) = condom(I)

prophy laxis /.profTlaeksis; NAmE ,pra:f-/ noun [U] (medical IS) action that is taken in order to prevent disease (        ) MBfr

pro pin quity /pra'pirjkwati/ noun [U] (formal) the state of being near in space or time ( $ Ih] M N- iWl ± W ) lira ifi,     0QG3 proximity

pro piti ate /pra'pijieit/ verb [VN] (formal) to stop sb from being angry by trying to please them  0Dd

placate : Sacrifices were made to propitiate the gods. A n         R A & o propitiation /pra-

.piji'eijn/ noun [U]

pro piti atory /pra'pijiatri; NAmE -toiri/ adj. (formal) intended to win back the friendship and approval of an angry or aggressive person A IB ft? W; A @ /i W; A# W: She saw the flowers as a propitiatory offering.

pro pi tious /pra'pijas/ adj. ~ (for sth/sb) (formal) likely to produce a successful result W 4>i W ; W Ik W ; W # 61): It was not a propitious time to start a new business.

pro pon ent /pra'paunant; NAmE -'pou-/ noun ~ (of sth) (formal) a person who supports an idea or course of action 11^#; A#A; MWW H771 advocate

GRAMMAR POINT

proportion

If proportion is used with an uncountable or a singular noun, the verb is generally singular.

* proportion

A proportion of the land is used for agriculture.

If the proportion of is used with a plural countable noun, or a singular noun that represents a group of people, the verb is usually singular, but with a (large, small, etc.) proportion of a plural verb is often used, especially in BrE. * the proportion of WUffc nJffcW 3(jTShI#AWifc; -MJUJia ( large, small ^ ) proportion of,

f 4*: The proportion of small cars on America’s roads is increasing. It® AIWI: A WWW It MfEMMieMo o A high proportion of five-year-olds have teeth in poor condition.

mn o

pro-portion On* /pro'poiXn; NAmE-'poirjn/ noun

3                  PART OF WHOLE 1 [C+sing./pl. v.] a part or share of a

whole ;      Water covers a large proportion of

the earth’s surface. AltWTi&JtWlWWAW^o 0 Loam is a soil with roughly equal proportions of clay, sand and silt. oThe

proportion of regular smokers increases with age. M UR 'fa WAP tbkl§IWMW1f-feM±Wo 0 A higher propor­tion of Americans go on to higher education than is the case in Britain. US A±AWW tb^llAW^So

4                  RELATIONSHIP AA 2 [U] ~ (of sth to sth) the relationship of one thing to another in size, amount, etc. tt $J;

HT71 ratio: The proportion of men to women in the college has changed dramatically over the years, jfi &WWl£W^£W£t£mJJi!7®E£o o The basic ingredients are limestone and clay in the proportion 2:1.

ttMA2:l0 OThe room is very long in proportion to (= relative to) its width.

|b] W-fe® tb^^AIS^o 3 [U, C, usually pi.] the correct relationship in size, degree, importance, etc. between one thing and another or between the parts of a whole JE$jWtb$J; #1#;  You haven’t drawn the figures

in the foreground in proportion. I^Wltu^A^iHfW'n tb ^i] o 0 The head is out of proportion with the body.

0 cm impressive building with fine proportions   0 Always try to keep a

sense of proportion (= of the relative importance of different things).

5                  SIZE/SHAPE A/h; Mik 4 proportions [pi.] the meas­

urements of sth; its size and shape MIR; #|R; HH; !§.        ; This method divides the task into more manage-