Noun

Singular property

Plural countable and uncountable; plural properties

property (countable and uncountable; plural properties)

1. Something that is owned.

   Leave those books alone! They are my property.

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

   There is a large house on the property.

   Important types of property include real property (land), personal property (other physical possessions), and intellectual property (rights over artistic creations, inventions, etc.).

3. The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and disposing of a thing.
4. An attribute or abstract quality associated with an individual, object or concept.

   Charm is his most endearing property

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

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

6. (computing) An editable or read-only parameter associated with an application, component or class, or the value of such a parameter.

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

7. (usually in plural, theater) An object used in a dramatic production

   Costumes and scenery are distinguished from property properly speaking

Synonyms

• (something owned): belongings, possession
• (piece of real estate): land, parcel
• (attribute or abstract quality of an object): attribute, feature
• (object used in a dramatic production): prop
• See also Wikisaurus:property
• See also Wikisaurus:characteristic

Derived terms

• prop
• propertied
• property file
• propertyless
• property man
• property owner

• property rights
• property tax
• accidental property
• chemical property
• country property
• essential property
• intellectual property

• man of property
• mechanical property
• personal property
• private property
• public property
• physical property
• real property

Related terms

• proper

• proprietary
• proprietor

Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of persons. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property has the right to consume, sell, rent, mortgage, transfer, exchange or destroy their property, and/or to exclude others from doing these things. Important widely-recognized types of property include real property (land), personal property (physical possessions belonging to a person), private property (property owned by legal persons or business entities), public property (state owned or publicly owned and available possessions) and intellectual property (exclusive rights over artistic creations, inventions, etc.), although the latter is not always as widely recognized or enforced. A title, or a right of ownership, is associated with property that establishes the relation between the goods/services and other persons, assuring the owner the right to dispose of the property as they see fit. Some philosophers assert that property rights arise from social convention. Others find origins for them in morality or natural law.