/preuh poh"zeuhl/ , n.
1. the act of offering or suggesting something for acceptance, adoption, or performance.
2. a plan or scheme proposed.
3. an offer or suggestion of marriage.
[ 1645-55; PROPOSE + -AL 2 ]
Syn. 1. recommendation. 2. suggestion, design. PROPOSAL, OVERTURE, PROPOSITION refer to something in the nature of an offer. A PROPOSAL is a plan, a scheme, an offer to be accepted or rejected: to make proposals for peace. An OVERTURE is a friendly approach, an opening move (perhaps involving a proposal) tentatively looking toward the settlement of a controversy or else preparing the way for a proposal or the like: to make overtures to an enemy.
PROPOSITION, used in mathematics to refer to a formal statement of truth, and often including the proof or demonstration of the statement, has something of this same meaning when used nontechnically (particularly in business). A PROPOSITION is a PROPOSAL in which the terms are clearly stated and their advantageous nature emphasized: His proposition involved a large discount to the retailer.