English
proper left
Proper left comes from Latin proprius ‘appropriate to oneself: (one's) proper,…’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEproprius‘appropriate to oneself: (one's) proper, (one's) own (inalienably)’
- Englishearliest quotation 2006proper left
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEproprius‘appropriate to oneself: (one's) proper, (one's) own (inalienably)’
- Englishearliest quotation 2006proper left
Earliest quotation: 2006, Jean M Burks, Quebec country furniture at the Shelburne Museum: “The key in the lock served to open the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *preyH- ‘to please’
friend, freedom, fray, impropriety, 6 more
through Proto-Indo-European *priHós ‘dear’
through Proto-Italic *pro-
through Latin proprius ‘appropriate to oneself: (one's) proper,…’
Today it means
noun The direction which is to the left from an object's perspective, the direction 90 degrees counter-clockwise from the front.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin proprius / proper left