Property is something that belongs to someone, such as land, buildings, or personal items. It can also mean a quality or feature that something has.
From Latin *proprietas* 'ownership, special character', from *proprius* 'one’s own'. It first meant the state of owning something or its special characteristics.
Property is about 'what is one’s own', whether that’s a house or a special quality like 'magnetic property'. So when science talks about the properties of water, it’s listing what truly belongs to water’s nature.
Historically, legal notions of property often excluded women from owning or controlling assets in their own name, and in some systems women themselves were treated as property of male relatives or husbands. This history shapes discussions of property rights and inheritance.
When discussing property rights, acknowledge that access and control have been unequally distributed across genders and that legal reforms were required to grant women independent property rights.
In historical contexts, note that many women built, managed, and preserved property and wealth despite legal constraints, and that their economic contributions were often recorded under male relatives’ names.
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