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REFERENCE

appropriate

adj. · v.
US //əˈpɹoʊpɹiˌeɪt// ap·pro·pri·ate
  1. 1 suitable or right (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    right or suitable for a particular situation, person, or use.

    suitable or proper in the circumstances; socially or functionally correct.

    Example

    It is important to wear appropriate clothes when you go for a job interview.

    Example

    The manager decided that a formal written warning was the most appropriate response to the repeated safety violations.

    Usage

    Often followed by the preposition 'for' or 'to'.
  2. 2 to take without permission (v.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    to take something for your own use, usually without the owner's permission.

    to take something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission or legal right.

    Example

    The company was accused of trying to appropriate land that belonged to the local people.

    Example

    The rebels were quick to appropriate the abandoned military vehicles to bolster their own transport capabilities.

    Usage

    This is a transitive verb and requires a direct object.
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  1. 3 to set money aside (v.)
    C1 Advanced Academic Formal Law

    to officially decide that an amount of money will be used for a specific purpose.

    to devote money or assets to a special purpose, often through a formal legislative or corporate process.

    Example

    The government will appropriate five million dollars for the new hospital wing.

    Example

    The committee voted to appropriate additional funds for the urban renewal project after the initial budget proved insufficient.

    Usage

    Commonly used in government, legal, and accounting contexts.
Etymology 1

From Middle English appropriaten, from appropriat (“appropriated”) + -en, borrowed from Latin appropriātus, perfect passive participle of appropriō (“to make one's own”), from ad (“to”) + propriō (“to make one's own”), from proprius (“one's own, private”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix).

Etymology 2

From Middle English appropriat (“appropriated”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Word family

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