PROPRIETY

  Propriety of style consists in using words in their proper sense and as in the case of purity, good usage is the principal test. Many words have acquired in actual use a meaning very different from what they once possessed. "Prevent" formerly meant to go before, and that meaning is implied in its Latin derivation.

  Now it means to put a stop to, to hinder. To attain propriety of style it is necessary to avoid confounding words derived from the same root? as respectfully and respectively? it is necessary to use words in their accepted sense or the sense which everyday use sanctions.