# appropriate

Pronunciation: say "uh-PROH-pree-uht" US /əˈpɹoʊ.pɹi.ət/, UK /əˈpɹəʊ.pɹi.ət/

## Adjective

1. Suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, situation, or occasion.
   - Simple: Right or correct for a certain situation or purpose.
   - _The committee chose an appropriate venue for the formal ceremony._
   - _Her response was entirely appropriate given the difficult circumstances._
2. Right or proper for a given situation, by the standards of good manners, social custom, or morality.
   - Simple: Right and proper for the situation, in a way people think is polite, decent, or good.
   - _Wearing a dark suit to the memorial was the appropriate choice._
   - _Making fun of a coworker's accent is not appropriate behavior at work._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "uh-PROH-pree-ayt" US /əˈpɹoʊ.pɹi.eɪt/, UK /əˈpɹəʊ.pɹi.eɪt/

3. To take something for one's own use, especially by claiming an exclusive right to it.
   - Simple: To take something for yourself, often as if you alone have the right to it.
   - _Powerful families often appropriate public land for their private use._
   - _The brand was accused of appropriating traditional patterns without credit._
4. To set apart or assign something for a particular person or use, to the exclusion of others.
   - Simple: To set something aside for a special purpose or person.
   - _Congress voted to appropriate funds for disaster relief._
   - _Each spring the council must appropriate funds for road repairs before any other spending is approved._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "uh-PROH-pree-ayt" US /əˈpɹoʊ.pɹi.eɪt/, UK /əˈpɹəʊ.pɹi.eɪt/

5. To make something suitable to a particular purpose or situation. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make something fit or right for a purpose.

## Adjective

6. Kept available for a particular person's use or for a particular purpose. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Kept or set aside for one special use or person.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To annex a church living, together with its revenues, to a religious corporation as its permanent property.

## Origin

**Meanings 3–5** — From Middle English appropriaten, borrowed from Latin appropriātus, the past participle of appropriō ("to make one's own"), formed from ad ("to") and proprius ("one's own, private").
**Meanings 1–2, 6** — From Middle English appropriat ("appropriated"), from Latin appropriātus, the past participle of appropriō ("to make one's own"); it shares the origin of the verb.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/appropriate (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).