propose

Saypruh-POHZ/pɹəˈpoʊz/UK/pɹəˈpəʊz/

6 meanings of propose

1
verbtransitive
To put forward a plan, idea, or course of action for others to consider.
The committee proposed several changes to the annual budget.
They propose a merger between the two software companies.
Similarsuggest, project
Oppositewithdraw, oppose
Note
Its line runs from Latin prōpōnere through Anglo-Norman and Middle French, where the verb was remodeled on poser; propound is its doublet, the same Latin verb arriving by a different road. A plan put forward this way usually takes a noun or an -ing form, as in propose an alliance or propose going to see a film. The -ing form keeps it apart from the "intend" meaning, which takes to and a verb.
2
verbintransitivewith to
To ask for someone's hand in marriage.
He proposed after they had dated for nearly three years.
Many couples propose on a significant anniversary.
Note
The marriage sense takes no direct object. One simply proposes, or proposes to someone: the person asked comes after to, as in he proposed to her, never he proposed her. Often nobody is named at all, because the setting makes the question plain. Its natural answer is accept, as in she accepted him.
3
verbtransitive
To have as one's intention; to mean to do something.
The mayor proposes to reduce traffic in the city center.
We propose to spend the whole summer traveling abroad.
Similarintend, plan, aim, mean
Note
Here the speaker announces an intention rather than offering a plan for approval. The verb takes to plus an infinitive: he proposes to set up his own business. John Gorham Palfrey opens his History of New England (1859) this way: "I propose to relate…" The participle proposed, as in proposed dams, sits between this and the "suggest" sense. It means planned, not yet built.

Less common meanings

4
verbobsolete
To talk; to hold a conversation with another person.
HERO. Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour; There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice Proposing with the prince and Claudio
1598, William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”
Note
Shakespeare's Hero uses it in Much Ado About Nothing (1598–1599). Beatrice is "proposing with the prince and Claudio", which means chatting, not suggesting anything. The construction is the giveaway: propose with a person, where modern English says talk with. Because the plan meaning is so familiar, this one is easy to misread in older texts. It survives only as something to recognize, not to use.
5
verbobsolete
To set forth or lay out a matter formally before an audience.
Note
Here the setting forth can be literal and physical. In George Chapman's translation of the Iliad (around 1611), a cup "propos'd brimful of wine" is set before the drinkers, and it is so heavy one could scarcely lift it. It is the most concrete of the senses, nearer to placing an object than to offering an idea. That picture still lies behind the "suggest" sense, where what is set before people is a plan.
6
nounobsolete
A purpose, objective, or aim toward which one directs effort.
The knight's sole propose was to defend the realm.
whose aime hath beene to make us not good and wittie, but wise and learned; She hath attained her propose.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes
Note
The noun turns the "intend" meaning into the thing aimed at. In John Florio's 1603 translation of Montaigne's Essayes, learning "hath attained her propose", meaning it has reached its goal. Its plural, proposes, is regular. To a modern eye it can look like a misprint for purpose, so read it as aim or object wherever it turns up.

Practice

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Origin

This comes from Middle English 'proposen', via Anglo-Norman and Middle French 'proposer', from Latin 'prōpōnere' ('to put forward'), with its conjugation reshaped after 'poser'. It is a doublet of 'propound'.