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Definition of principle - 8 dictionary results

prin⋅ci⋅ple

  [prin-suh-puhl]
Use principle in a Sentence
–noun
1. an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: a person of good moral principles.
2. a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived: the principles of modern physics.
3. a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion: the principles of the Stoics.
4. principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management: to adhere to one's principles; a kindergarten run on modern principles.
5. guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct: a person of principle.
6. an adopted rule or method for application in action: a working principle for general use.
7. a rule or law exemplified in natural phenomena, the construction or operation of a machine, the working of a system, or the like: the principle of capillary attraction.
8. the method of formation, operation, or procedure exhibited in a given case: a community organized on the patriarchal principle.
9. a determining characteristic of something; essential quality.
10. an originating or actuating agency or force: growth is the principle of life.
11. an actuating agency in the mind or character, as an instinct, faculty, or natural tendency: the principles of human behavior.
12. Chemistry. a constituent of a substance, esp. one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
13. Obsolete. beginning or commencement.
—Idioms
14. in principle, in essence or substance; fundamentally: to accept a plan in principle.
15. on principle,
a. according to personal rules for right conduct; as a matter of moral principle: He refused on principle to agree to the terms of the treaty.
b. according to a fixed rule, method, or practice: He drank hot milk every night on principle.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME, alter. of MF principe or L prīncipium, on the analogy of manciple. See principium

Synonyms:
1, 2, 3. Principle, canon, rule imply something established as a standard or test, for measuring, regulating, or guiding conduct or practice. A principle is a general and fundamental truth that may be used in deciding conduct or choice: to adhere to principle. Canon, originally referring to an edict of the Church (a meaning that it still retains), is used of any principle, law, or critical standard that is officially approved, particularly in aesthetics and scholarship: canons of literary criticism. A rule, usually something adopted or enacted, is often the specific application of a principle: the golden rule. 2. theorem, axiom, postulate, proposition. 5. integrity, probity, rectitude, honor.

Usage note:
See principal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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prin·ci·ple   (prĭn'sə-pəl)   
n.  
  1. A basic truth, law, or assumption: the principles of democracy.
    1. A rule or standard, especially of good behavior: a man of principle.
    2. The collectivity of moral or ethical standards or judgments: a decision based on principle rather than expediency.
  3. A fixed or predetermined policy or mode of action.
  4. A basic or essential quality or element determining intrinsic nature or characteristic behavior: the principle of self-preservation.
  5. A rule or law concerning the functioning of natural phenomena or mechanical processes: the principle of jet propulsion.
  6. Chemistry One of the elements that compose a substance, especially one that gives some special quality or effect.
  7. A basic source. See Usage Note at principal.

[Middle English, alteration of Old French principe, from Latin prīncipium, from prīnceps, prīncip-, leader, emperor; see per1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Principle

Prin"ci*ple\, n. [F. principe, L. principium beginning, foundation, fr. princeps, -cipis. See Prince.]

1. Beginning; commencement. [Obs.]

Doubting sad end of principle unsound. --Spenser.

2. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.

The soul of man is an active principle. --Tillotson.

3. An original faculty or endowment.

Nature in your principles hath set [benignity]. --Chaucer.

Those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the communication either of enjoyment or suffering. --Stewart.

4. A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate.

Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. --Heb. vi. 1.

A good principle, not rightly understood, may prove as hurtful as a bad. --Milton.

5. A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle.

All kinds of dishonesty destroy our pretenses to an honest principle of mind. --Law.

6. (Chem.) Any original inherent constituent which characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential properties, and which can usually be separated by analysis; -- applied especially to drugs, plant extracts, etc.

Cathartine is the bitter, purgative principle of senna. --Gregory.

Bitter principle, Principle of contradiction, etc. See under Bitter, Contradiction, etc.

Principle

Prin"ci*ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Principled; p. pr. & vb. n. Principling.] To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet, or rule of conduct, good or ill.

Governors should be well principled. --L'Estrange.

Let an enthusiast be principled that he or his teacher is inspired. --Locke.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : principle
Spanish: principio,
German: das Gesetz,
Japanese: 原理
More Translations »

principle 
c.1380, "fundamental truth or proposition," from Anglo-Norm. principle, from O.Fr. principe, from L. principium (pl. principia) "a beginning, first part," from princeps (see prince). Meaning "origin, source" is attested from 1413. Sense of "general rule of conduct" is from c.1532. Used absolutely for (good or moral) principle from 1653.
"It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them." [Adlai Stevenson, speech, New York City, Aug. 27, 1952]
Hence principled "moral" (1697). Scientific sense of "general law of nature" is recorded from 1802.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: prin·ci·ple
Pronunciation: 'prin(t)-s&-p&l
Function: noun
1 : a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, orassumption
2 : an ingredient (as a chemical) that exhibits or imparts a characteristic quality principle of a drug>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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principle prin·ci·ple (prĭn'sə-pəl)
n.

  1. A basic truth, law, or assumption.
  2. A rule or law concerning the functioning of natural phenomena or mechanical processes.
  3. One of the elements composing a chemical compound, especially one that gives some special quality or effect.
  4. The essential ingredient in a drug.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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principle

see in principle; on principle.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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