principle
Americannoun
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an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct.
a person of good moral principles.
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a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived.
the principles of modern physics.
- Synonyms:
- proposition, postulate, axiom, theorem
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a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion.
the principles of the Stoics.
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principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management.
to adhere to one's principles; a kindergarten run on modern principles.
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guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct.
a person of principle.
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an adopted rule or method for application in action.
a working principle for general use.
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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.
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the method of formation, operation, or procedure exhibited in a given case.
a community organized on the patriarchal principle.
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a determining characteristic of something; essential quality.
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an originating or actuating agency or force.
growth is the principle of life.
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an actuating agency in the mind or character, as an instinct, faculty, or natural tendency.
the principles of human behavior.
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Chemistry. a constituent of a substance, especially one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
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Obsolete. beginning or commencement.
idioms
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in principle, in essence or substance; fundamentally.
to accept a plan in principle.
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on principle,
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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.
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according to a fixed rule, method, or practice.
He drank hot milk every night on principle.
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noun
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a standard or rule of personal conduct
a man of principle
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(often plural) a set of such moral rules
he'd stoop to anything
he has no principles
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adherence to such a moral code; morality
it's not the money but the principle of the thing
torn between principle and expediency
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a fundamental or general truth or law
first principles
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the essence of something
the male principle
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a source or fundamental cause; origin
principle of life
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a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the behaviour of a system
the principle of the conservation of mass
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an underlying or guiding theory or belief
the hereditary principle
socialist principles
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chem a constituent of a substance that gives the substance its characteristics and behaviour
bitter principle
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in theory or essence
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because of or in demonstration of a principle
noun
Usage
Principle and principal are often confused: the principal (not principle ) reason for his departure; the plan was approved in principle (not in principal )
Commonly Confused
See principal.
Related Words
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.
Etymology
Origin of principle
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, alteration of Middle French principe or Latin prīncipium, on the analogy of manciple; principium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A chief US demand is revision of the WTO's fundamental "most favoured nation" principle, which aims to extend any trade advantage granted to one country to all trade partners.
From Barron's
“The WBD Board has been guided by the singular principle of securing a transaction that maximizes the value of our iconic assets and delivers as much certainty as possible to our shareholders,” Warner Bros.
From MarketWatch
That agreement is highly sought after by developing countries, but India has so far balked, on principle, to plurilateral agreements within the WTO.
From Barron's
"With the rise of wearables and long-term tracking in humans, I'm excited to see whether the same principles -- early predictors, staged aging, divergent trajectories -- hold true in people."
From Science Daily
Trinity Christian School is a small independent family school for children aged 4-11 which "runs on Christian principles".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
