principle

[ prin-suh-puhl ]

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.

   Synonyms: proposition, postulate, axiom, theorem

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.

   Synonyms: honor, rectitude, probity, integrity

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, especially one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
13. Obsolete. beginning or commencement.

Principle

¹

/ ˈprɪnsɪpəl /

noun

1. See God
   Christian Science another word for God

principle

²

/ ˈprɪnsɪpəl /

noun

1. a standard or rule of personal conduct

   a man of principle

2. often plural a set of such moral rules

   he has no principles

   he'd stoop to anything

3. adherence to such a moral code; morality

   it's not the money but the principle of the thing

   torn between principle and expediency

4. a fundamental or general truth or law

   first principles

5. the essence of something

   the male principle

6. a source or fundamental cause; origin

   principle of life

7. a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the behaviour of a system

   the principle of the conservation of mass

8. an underlying or guiding theory or belief

   socialist principles

   the hereditary principle

9. chem a constituent of a substance that gives the substance its characteristics and behaviour

   bitter principle

10. in principle
    in principle in theory or essence
11. on principle
    on principle because of or in demonstration of a principle

Usage

Principle and principal are often confused: the principal (not principle ) reason for his departure; the plan was approved in principle (not in principal )

Confusables Note

See principal.

Word History and Origins

Origin of principle¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, alteration of Middle French principe or Latin prīncipium, on the analogy of manciple; principium

Word History and Origins

Origin of principle¹

C14: from Latin principium beginning, basic tenet

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in principle, in essence or substance; fundamentally:

   to accept a plan in principle.

2. on principle,
   1. 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.

   2. according to a fixed rule, method, or practice:

      He drank hot milk every night on principle.

More idioms and phrases containing principle

see in principle ; on principle .

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Overall, many of the principles Barr put forward are unobjectionable in general.

From Vox

Generally speaking, they do this by creating guidelines and principles for developers, funders, and regulators to follow.

From MIT Technology Review

You write all human languages are unified by a simple principle.

From Nautilus

This means that, in principle, an algorithm might learn to represent the meaning of words simply from their distributions in a large amount of text.

From Nautilus

Abouheif thinks that what is happening in carpenter ants may illustrate a broader principle involving symbioses and evolution.

From Quanta Magazine

But the qualities Mario Cuomo brought to public life—compassion, integrity, commitment to principle—remain in short supply today.

From The Daily Beast

Nixon said defending the two islands was “a matter of principle.”

From The Daily Beast

If the noble experiment of American democracy is to mean anything, it is fidelity to the principle of freedom.

From The Daily Beast

Let the record show that espousing principles is common; acting on principle is rare.

From The Daily Beast

The principle that outsiders should be welcomed and provided for was a cross-cultural theme in ancient cultures.

From The Daily Beast

Many so-called "humming tones" are given for practice, but in accepting them observe whether the foregoing principle is obeyed.

From Project Gutenberg

The grand thing is to have each of your five fingers go "dum, dum," an equal number of times, which is the principle of all three!

From Project Gutenberg

He had hitherto lived for universal man:—his days should terminate on a different principle.

From Project Gutenberg

The gauge of railways in Great Britain was not fixed upon any scientific principle.

From Project Gutenberg

I have erected above 100 steam-engines on this principle, but never met with one accident or complaint against them.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• assumption
• basis
• convention
• doctrine
• ethic
• foundation
• fundamental
• precept
• proposition
• regulation
• rule
• truth