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Is it really proper to say, "The book is entitled 1984"? Entitle seems to be the act of giving one the right to do something or not.

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It's usually possible to avoid using "entitled" and "titled". E.g., "I just read a terrific book: George Orwell's 1984" or "I'd like a copy of Orwell's 1984". If you're playing a guessing game -- "I'm thinking of a book. The title is 1984. It was published in 1949. And it's author was who?" -- you don't need it either. – Bill Franke Jan 30 at 7:00

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up vote 5 down vote

There is nothing wrong with using entitle that way.

entitle : 5. give a title to a book, film, play, etc.

It may be taken as in a higher register than many people normally speak but it is, in fact, more widely used in books enter image description here

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Yes, and it merely means that it's pretentious, verbose, academic prose. But there's nothing wrong with poor writing or speaking style these days because all anyone cares about is what they and their cellphones look like: fashion plates don't need to communicate with words: consumer goods are good enough. – Bill Franke Jan 30 at 8:22
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It's better and more usual to say 'the book is titled 1984,' or 'the book's title is 1984.'

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