Editing Prop (section)

==Term==

The earliest known use of the term "properties" in English to refer to stage accessories is in the 1425 CE [[morality play]], ''[[The Castle of Perseverance]]''.<ref name="Hart">{{cite web |url = http://www.props.eric-hart.com/education/first-use-of-property-in-the-theatrical-sense/ |title = First use of "Property" in the theatrical sense |last = Hart |first = Eric |date = 19 October 2009 |work = Prop Agenda |access-date = 7 April 2013 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140222041525/http://www.props.eric-hart.com/education/first-use-of-property-in-the-theatrical-sense/ |archive-date = 22 February 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Cook">{{cite news |title=Stage Properties |first=Dutton |last=Cook |magazine=Belgravia |volume=35 |pages=282–284 |year=1878 }}</ref>

During the [[Renaissance]] in Europe, small acting troupes functioned as cooperatives, pooling resources and dividing any income. Many performers provided their own costumes and small objects needed for performance, hence the term "property" suggesting these items belonged to the people on stage.<ref name="Harris" /> Conversely, items such as stage weapons or furniture may have been acquired specially and considered "company property".<ref name="Partridge">[[Eric Partridge]] ''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English: Second Edition''. [[Random House]] 1959</ref><ref name="Macgowan">Kenneth Macgowan and William Melnitz ''The Living Stage''. Prentice-Hall 1955.</ref>

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' finds the first usage of "props" in its shortened form in 1841, while the singular form "prop" appeared in 1911.<ref>prop, n./6; Third edition, September 2009; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/152851>; accessed 13 January 2011. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary, 1908.</ref>

"Property" and "prop" apply not only to props used in theatre, but also to props used in film and television. Properties director Bland Wade said "A coffee cup onstage is a coffee cup on television, is a coffee cup on the big screen," adding "There are definitely different responsibilities and different vocabulary."<ref name="Wade">{{cite journal |title=Through the Eyes of the Property Director |first=Bland |last=Wade |journal=Theatre Symposium |volume=18 |page=8 |year=2010 |issn=1065-4917 |isbn=978-0-8173-7005-3}}</ref>