Pronunciation

How to pronounce “proprietary

“proprietary” is pronounced /pɹəˈpɹaɪəˌtɛɹi/ (pruh-PRY-uh-te-ree) in American English and /pɹəpɹaɪətəɹi/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “pɹaɪ”.
The sound

Say “proprietary” in 5 beats

Say it like this

proprietary

/pɹəˈpɹaɪəˌtɛɹi/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /pɹəpɹaɪətəɹi/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

5 beats
  1. pɹəpɹə
  2. pɹaɪpɹaɪstress
  3. əə
  4. ɹiɹi
IPA (American)
/pɹəˈpɹaɪəˌtɛɹi/
IPA (British)
/pɹəpɹaɪətəɹi/
Respelling
pruh-PRY-uh-te-ree
Syllables
5 — pɹə-PɹAꞮ-ə-tɛ-ɹi
Stress
Stress the second syllable: pɹə-PɹAꞮ-ə-tɛ-ɹi. “pɹaɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɹəˈpɹaɪəˌtɛɹi/

British

/pɹəpɹaɪətəɹi/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “proprietary” means

  1. noun

    an unincorporated business owned by a single person who is responsible for its liabilities and entitled to its profits

  2. adjective

    protected by trademark or patent or copyright; made or produced or distributed by one having exclusive rights

    `Tylenol' is a proprietary drug of which `acetaminophen' is the generic form

Say it in a sentence

The format is proprietary, which makes the data hard to move.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

proprietary”, answered

How do you pronounce “proprietary”?

“proprietary” is pronounced /pɹəˈpɹaɪəˌtɛɹi/ (pruh-PRY-uh-te-ree) in American English and /pɹəpɹaɪətəɹi/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “pɹaɪ”. Build it as pɹə-PɹAꞮ-ə-tɛ-ɹi, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “proprietary” have?

5: pɹə · pɹaɪ · ə · tɛ · ɹi. The beat lands on the second, “pɹaɪ”.

Is “proprietary” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɹəˈpɹaɪəˌtɛɹi/ (pruh-PRY-uh-te-ree); British English says /pɹəpɹaɪətəɹi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “proprietary” mean?

As a noun: an unincorporated business owned by a single person who is responsible for its liabilities and entitled to its profits For example: “The format is proprietary, which makes the data hard to move.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “proprietary”?

Stress the second syllable: pɹə-PɹAꞮ-ə-tɛ-ɹi. “pɹaɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “proprietary” and see every sound

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