Word.ws English Dictionary

propose

UK/pɹəˈpəʊz//pɹəˈpoʊz/

propose verb: to suggest a plan, course of action, etc.

Verb

propose (third-person singular simple present proposes, present participle proposing, simple past and past participle proposed)

  1. (transitive) To suggest a plan, course of action, etc.
    • I propose going to see a film.
    • to propose an alliance
  2. (intransitive, sometimes, with-to) To ask for a person's hand in marriage.
    • He proposed to her last night and she accepted him.
    • After the death of his [Verney's] first wife, he proposed to Florence Nightingale but she refused him. Later he married her sister, and for many years Claydon was Miss Nightingale's second home.1960 March, N. Caplan, “The Railway Member of Parliament”, in Railway Magazine, page 208
  3. (transitive) To intend.
    • He proposes to set up his own business.
    • I propose to relate, in several volumes, the history of the people of New England.1859, John Gorham Palfrey, History of New England, Preface (Google preview)
  4. (obsolete) To talk; to converse.
    • HERO. Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour;
      There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice
      Proposing with the prince and Claudio1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. (obsolete) To set forth.
    • […]so weighty was the cup,
      That being propos'd brimful of wine, one scarce could lift it up.[1611?], Homer, “Book XI”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new...

Noun

propose (plural proposes)

  1. (obsolete) An objective or aim.
    • whose aime hath beene to make us not good and wittie, but wise and learned; She hath attained her propose.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

propose meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali

propose in Hindi

प्रस्ताव करना

propose in Tamil

முன்மொழி, பிரேரணை, காதலை தெரிவி, விருப்பம் தெரிவி, எடுத்துரை

propose in Marathi

प्रस्तावित करणे, प्रस्ताव करणे

propose in Bengali

উত্থাপন করা, প্রস্তাব করা, কল্পনা করা, সঙ্কল্প করা, উপস্থাপিত করা, ইচ্ছা করা
More languagesFewer languages
propose in Telugu
ప్రతిపాదించండి, ప్రతిపాదించడం
propose in Malayalam
നിർദ്ദേശിക്കുക, മുന്നോട്ടു വയ്ക്കുക, പ്രസ്താവിക്കുക
propose in Kannada
ನೀಡು, ಹೆಸರುಹಚ್ಚು, ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪಿಸು, ಸಲಹೆ ಕೊಡು
propose in Punjabi
ਪ੍ਰਸਤਾਵਿਤ ਕਰੋ, ਪ੍ਰਸਤਾਵਿਤ ਕਰਨਾ
propose in Gujarati
દરખાસ્ત કરવી
propose in Odia
ବାଢ଼ିବା bāṛhibā
propose in Arabic
اِقْتَرَحَ iqtaraḥa, خَطَبَ ḵaṭaba, طَلَبَ يَد ṭalaba yad
propose in Indonesian
melamar, meminang
propose in Persian
پیشنهاد کردن pêšnahâd kardan, خواستگاری xâstgâri, خواستن xâstan
propose in Thai
เสนอ sà-nə̌ə
propose in Vietnamese
đề nghị, đề xuất, gợi ý, cầu hôn

Examples of propose in a sentence

  • to propose a question for discussion
  • President Moon Jae-in proposed the plan this week during a meeting with government officials, his spokesman said.2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
  • Many of the proposed dams would be among the tallest in the world.2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

All 40 example sentences with propose

Synonyms of propose

Forms of propose

Verb
third-person singular presentproposes
present participleproposing
past participleproposed
pastproposed
Noun
pluralproposes

Past tense of propose: proposed

Origin of propose

From Middle English proposen, from Anglo-Norman proposer (verb), propos (noun), Middle French proposer (verb), propos (noun), from Latin prōpōnō, prōpōnere, with conjugation altered based on poser. Doublet of propound.

Words formed from propose

Words that rhyme with propose

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about propose

What does propose mean?
Propose means to suggest a plan, course of action, etc.
What is propose in Hindi?
Propose in Hindi is प्रस्ताव करना. See Propose meaning in Hindi.
How do you use propose in a sentence?
to propose a question for discussion
What part of speech is propose?
Propose can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce propose?
Propose is pronounced /pɹəˈpəʊz/ (UK).
What is the past tense of propose?
The past tense of propose is proposed.

Words near propose in the dictionary

  1. proposalist
  2. proposalists
  3. proposals
  4. proposant
  5. proposants
  6. propose
  7. propose marriage
  8. proposed
  9. proposed marriage
  10. proposedly
  11. proposee

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: propose (page history and authors); propose (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); propose (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); propose (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); propose (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); propose (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); propose (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); propose (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); propose (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); propose (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ବାଢ଼ିବା (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-propose.ogg.

Cite this entry: “propose.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/propose. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.