propriety
noun /prəˈpraɪəti/
/prəˈpraɪəti/
(formal)- [uncountable] moral and social behaviour that is considered to be correct and acceptable
- Nobody questioned the propriety of her being there alone.
- the proprieties[plural] the rules of correct behaviour synonym etiquette
- They were careful to observe the proprieties.
- The company had acted in accordance with all legal proprieties.
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘peculiarity, essential quality’): from Old French propriete, from Latin proprietas, from proprius ‘one's own, particular’.