principle
[prin-suh-puhl]
- an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: a person of good moral principles.
- a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived: the principles of modern physics.
- a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion: the principles of the Stoics.
- principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management: to adhere to one's principles; a kindergarten run on modern principles.
- guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct: a person of principle.
- an adopted rule or method for application in action: a working principle for general use.
- 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.
- the method of formation, operation, or procedure exhibited in a given case: a community organized on the patriarchal principle.
- a determining characteristic of something; essential quality.
- an originating or actuating agency or force: growth is the principle of life.
- an actuating agency in the mind or character, as an instinct, faculty, or natural tendency: the principles of human behavior.
- Chemistry. a constituent of a substance, especially one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
- Obsolete. beginning or commencement.
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- in principle, in essence or substance; fundamentally: to accept a plan in principle.
- on principle,
- 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.
- according to a fixed rule, method, or practice: He drank hot milk every night on principle.
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Origin of principle
1350–1400; Middle English, alteration of Middle French principe or Latin prīncipium, on the analogy of manciple. See principium
Synonyms for principle
Synonym study
1–3. 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.
Usage note
See principal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Principle
- Christian Science another word for God
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principle
- a standard or rule of personal conducta man of principle
- (often plural) a set of such moral ruleshe'd stoop to anything; he has no principles
- adherence to such a moral code; moralityit's not the money but the principle of the thing; torn between principle and expediency
- a fundamental or general truth or lawfirst principles
- the essence of somethingthe male principle
- a source or fundamental cause; originprinciple of life
- a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the behaviour of a systemthe principle of the conservation of mass
- an underlying or guiding theory or beliefthe hereditary principle; socialist principles
- chem a constituent of a substance that gives the substance its characteristics and behaviourbitter principle
- in principle in theory or essence
- on principle because of or in demonstration of a principle
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Word Origin for principle
C14: from Latin principium beginning, basic tenet
usage
Principle and principal are often confused: the principal (not principle) reason for his departure; the plan was approved in principle (not in principal)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for on principle
principle
late 14c., "origin, source, beginning; rule of conduct; axiom, basic assumption; elemental aspect of a craft or discipline," from Anglo-French principle, Old French principe "origin, cause, principle," from Latin principium (plural principia) "a beginning, commencement, origin, first part," in plural "foundation, elements," from princeps (see prince). Used absolutely for (good or moral) principle from 1650s.
It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them. [Adlai Stevenson, speech, New York City, Aug. 27, 1952]
Scientific sense of "general law of nature" is recorded from 1802. The English -l- apparently is by analogy of participle, etc.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
principle
(prĭn′sə-pəl)- A basic truth, law, or assumption.
- A rule or law concerning the functioning of natural phenomena or mechanical processes.
- One of the elements composing a chemical compound, especially one that gives some special quality or effect.
- The essential ingredient in a drug.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with on principle
on principle
On moral or ethical grounds. As James Russell Lowell wrote about Alexander Pope in 1871, “There was a time when I could not read Pope, but disliked him on principle.” [First half of 1800s]
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According to a fixed rule or practice. For example, The police were locking up the demonstrators on principle. [First half of 1800s]
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on general principle. For no special reason, in general, as in Dean won't touch broccoli on general principle. [First half of 1800s]
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principle
see in principle; on principle.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.