What does the postpositive adjective 'proper' mean?

Status
Not open for further replies.

cappy

Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2022
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
French
Home Country
France
Current Location
UK
My British friend and I were talking about animals. He said that "A tiger is not a cat proper'
I was confused, so I looked up "proper" on the Free Dictionary. This is what it gives me.

Source: The Free Dictionary
"(immediately postpositive) (of an object, quality, etc) referred to or named specifically so as to exclude anything not directly connected with it: his claim is connected with the deed proper."
I was still confused about the meaning of this word when used as a postpositive adjective. So I dig deeper and found this entry from Collins Dictionary.
Source: Collins Dictionary
"You can add proper after a word to indicate that you are referring to the central and most important part of a place, event, or object and want to distinguish it from other things which are not regarded as being important or central to it."
Example: A distinction must be made between archaeology proper and science-based archaeology.
I still have trouble understanding the postpositive adjective's meaning. I would be glad if someone help explain.
 
Answered here.

Please don't post the same question to different forums simultaneously. Post on one forum only, wait for responses and then, only if you are disappointed with/confused by the responses (or there aren't any), post on another forum and include a link to the first forum thread.
(emsr2d2)

Thread locked to save our members' time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top