apropos

See also à propos, and àpropos

English

WOTD – 9 September 2008    

Alternative forms

• à propos
• àpropos

Etymology

French à propos (“on that subject”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌæp.ɹəˈpəʊ/
• (US) IPA: /ˌæp.ɹəˈpoʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ

Adjective

apropos (comparative more apropos, superlative most apropos)

1. Of an appropriate or pertinent nature.
   • 1877, Jules Verne, translated by Frederick Amadeus Malleson, Journey into the Interior of the Earth, Chapter VI,

     Nothing easier. I received not long ago a map from my friend, Augustus Petermann, at Leipzig. Nothing could be more apropos.

2. by the way, incidental.
   • 1877, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

     Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. "No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin," he observed. "Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends' thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour's silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine."

Synonyms

• (by the way): by the way, incidentally, incidental

Translations

of an appropriate or pertinent nature

• Finnish: sopiva (fi), osuva (fi), oleellinen (fi)
• French: à propos (fr)

• Russian: уместный (ru) (um'éstnyj) , подходящий (ru) (podxod'áš'ij) 
• Spanish: pertinente (es), oportuno (es)

Preposition

apropos

1. Regarding or concerning.
   • 2011, Jeremy Harding, "Diary", London Review of Books, 33.VII:

     Few have the same root and branch obsession with the recent past or the avenger’s recall (‘the necessity for long memory and sarcasm in argument’, as he wrote apropos the old left intelligentsia in New York).

Antonyms

• malapropos

Derived terms

• apropos of
• apropos of nothing

Translations

regarding or concerning

• Danish: apropos (da)
• Dutch: betreffend (nl)
• Finnish: a propos (fi), puheen ollen (fi)
• French: à propos (fr)
• Portuguese: a propósito (pt)

• Romanian: apropo de (ro)
• Russian: кстати (ru) (kstáti) 
• Spanish: a propósito (es)
• Swedish: apropå (sv)

Adverb

apropos

1. By the way.
2. Timely; at a good time.

Translations

by the way

• Danish: apropos (da)
• Dutch: terloops (nl)
• Finnish: a propos (fi), muuten (fi)
• French: à propos (fr)
• German: apropos (de)

• Romanian: apropo (ro)
• Russian: кстати (ru) (kstáti) 
• Spanish: a propósito (es)
• Swedish: apropå (sv)

timely, at a good time

• Apiaká: mcconnell
• Danish: apropos (da)
• Dutch: gepast (nl)

• Finnish: sopivasti (fi)
• German: apropos (de)
• Russian: кстати (ru) (kstáti) , вовремя (ru) (vóvr'em'a) , уместно (ru) (um'éstno) 

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: a propósito (es)

Anagrams

• Sapporo

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Danish

Alternative forms

• (nonstandard) à propos

Etymology

From French à propos.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /apropo/, [apʰʁ̥opʰo], [ɑpʰʁ̥opʰo]

Noun

apropos n (singular definite aproposet or apropos'et, plural indefinite aproposer or apropos'er)

1. aside

Inflection

    Inflection of apropos

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative, dative and accusative	apropos	aproposet apropos'et	aproposer apropos'er	aproposerne apropos'erne
genitive	apropos'	aproposets apropos'ets	aproposers apropos'ers	aproposernes apropos'ernes

Preposition

apropos

1. apropos (regarding or concerning)

Adverb

apropos

1. apropos

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German

Etymology

From French à propos

Adverb

apropos

1. apropos

Synonyms

• nebenbei
• übrigens