Proprietor and owner

Question

Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner?Thank youKristina, CZ

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner? Thank you Kristina, CZ[/nq]
IIRC, proprius in Latin means the adjective "own". So I hope there is no difference. I didn't bother to check online dictionaries, because I was sure you had done that already.

Posters should say where they live, and for which
area they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner? Thank you[/nq]
Yes. Even though the dictionary defines them as having the same meaning, the actual usage is different. You would use "owner" to describe the person who owns any kind of business. You would use "proprietor" to describe the person who owns and runs a store.

John is the owner of a trucking company. Bill is the proprietor of a clothing store. Both are owners. You can also say that "Bill is the owner of a clothing store". You can also say that John is the proprietor of a trucking company. However, in normal AmE usage, you would not say "John is the proprietor of a trucking company".

What I've said above is not a rule. It's how we normally use the words in everyday speech and writing in AmE.
(The usual caveat applies to BrE. Always wait for a Brit to answer a question like this because they sometimes do things differently.)

Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner? Thank you[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes. Even though the dictionary defines them as having the same meaning, the actual usage is different. You would ... applies to BrE. Always wait for a Brit to answer a question like this because they sometimes do things differently.)[/nq]
This Brit has been waiting for a more knowledgeable Brit to reply.

I would interpret "proprietor" in BrE to mean an owner-manager: someone who both owns a business and runs it.
I would also understand a proprietor to be a human being rather than a company.
The uses of the words in specialist contexts may be different.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner?[/nq]
I used to own a telephone call center (answering service). I called myself the proprietor, even though I had about 30 employees and delegated authority. It was amusing to see that most of the business world was not prepared for someone calling himself a proprietor. When running advertising or buying or leasing equipment most data entry systems had predefined roles listed such as president, vice president, manager, chairman, owner, even purchaser, acquisitions, and marketing, but nothing for proprietor. A yellow pages rep who didn't have such a restriction on his entry form insisted on listing me as president, which I always thought was pretentious.
The world, it seems, is not built for proprietors.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner? Thank you Kristina, CZ[/nq]
I have never heard of anyone being a proprietor of personal property. I am a homeowner and I own lawnmower. I also own an automobile.

I have never heard of anyone being a proprietor of real property unless it was leased or rented.
If I were sole owner of a business which did or did not own property, I'd consider myself the proprietor. If the business was unincorporated and jointly owned, guess what?
If I were a part owner of a business, it would be incorporated and I'd be a stockholder if I wasn't an officer of the company - President, Treasurer, Secretary, or a Member of the Board.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor and owner? Thank you Kristina, CZ[/nq]
[nq:1]I have never heard of anyone being a proprietor of personal property. I am a homeowner and I own lawnmower. I also own an automobile. I have never heard of anyone being a proprietor of real property unless it was leased or rented.[/nq]
What about the proprietor of a hotel or guest house?
[nq:1]If I were sole owner of a business which did or did not own property, I'd consider myself the proprietor. ... a stockholder if I wasn't an officer of the company - President, Treasurer, Secretary, or a Member of the Board.[/nq]
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I have never heard of anyone being a proprietor of real property unless it was leased or rented.[/nq]
[nq:1]What about the proprietor of a hotel or guest house?[/nq]
Those are rented, albeit in parts or over a shortish term, aren't they? In the situations to which Rambler alludes the property is a business asset, and is readily identified with the commercial entity. The proprietor of such a business is also sometimes called an "owner-operator".

Odysseus

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What about the proprietor of a hotel or guest house?[/nq]
[nq:1]Those are rented, albeit in parts or over a shortish term, aren't they?[/nq]
The rooms are rented, but the hotel or guest house is owned by someone. The owner of a small hotel or a guest house is often called the proprietor.
In the UK, they have such status. See the Hotel Proprietor Act of
1956. In the US, even The New York Times recognizes the term:http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0DE4DA1738E23ABC4E51DFBF668382669FDE

Also, see http://www.guesthouseatlostriver.com/ where David Mickow is a proprietor.

Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Yes. Even though the dictionary defines them as having the ... a question like this because they sometimes do things differently.)[/nq]
[nq:1]This Brit has been waiting for a more knowledgeable Brit to reply. I would interpret "proprietor" in BrE to mean ... to be a human being rather than a company. The uses of the words in specialist contexts may be different.[/nq]
In the U.S., it was once a common convention (now somewhat obsolete) to include on business signs, "Thomas Jones - Proprietor" or "Thomas Jones - Prop." The implication was that Jones was the owner-manager or at least the person entirely responsible for the operation. The tone was intended to suggest that it was quite a good thing that Jones was in charge, setting the business apart from those not so fortunate.

It would be viewed today as somewhat pretentious, unless there was an intention to hark back to an earlier time, perhaps by designing the sign in an old style. It is also used facetiously in speech, perhaps welcoming one to stay the night at the speaker's home as if he operated a hotel, the speaker referring to himself as "Tom Jones, proprietor." That would be mildly humorous. "Tom Jones, owner" would fall flat.

Proprietor may be defined as owner, but it always implies active management, close to the action. And when the active management is of far more importance than who might actually own the operation or collect the bulk of the profits, proprietor is the more meaningful term. A person who manages a brothel would rarely be called the owner or manager. That person is the proprietor.
It is sometimes hard to make the distinction between a business owner who could be called a proprietor with a straight face and another one-person business owner who might be entitled. Calling a delivery truck owner-driver the proprietor would sound most peculiar. Proprietor implies substance.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2] Those are rented, albeit in parts or over a shortish term, aren't they?[/nq]
[nq:1]The rooms are rented, but the hotel or guest house is owned by someone. The owner of a small hotel or a guest house is often called the proprietor.[/nq]
So what's the argument: why did you question the applicability of Rambler's remark to those businesses? AFAICT they're exactly the kind of property he meant.

Odysseus

Proprietor and owner

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions