Words / B2

PROP-uh-tee/ˈprɒpəti/

Property is owned land or buildings, a belonging, or a scientific quality: school property; a chemical property. Possession is the legal “having”; belongings is everyday stuff. Asset-tag school property before the audit. Mix-up: properly is the adverb. Uncountable for land as a whole; a property for one building.

Meaning

A building or land that is owned; also a quality of a substance, or something that belongs to someone.

Examples

• “School property must be asset-tagged before the audit, the bursar said.”
• “Solubility is a property of the salt, which is the science sense.”

Good to know

private / intellectual property; a chemical property. Everyday: belongings. Trap: properly. Audits, law, and science. Buildings, stuff, or a quality.

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