prince

¹

[prins]

noun

1. a nonreigning male member of a royal family.

2. History/Historical.,  a sovereign or monarch; king.

3. (in Great Britain) a son or grandson (if the child of a son) of a king or queen.

4. the English equivalent of any of various titles of nobility in other countries.

5. a holder of such a title.

6. the ruler of a small state, as one actually or nominally subordinate to a suzerain.

   Monaco is ruled by a prince.

7. a person or thing that is chief or preeminent in any class, group, etc..

   a merchant prince.

8. a person possessing admirably fine and genial characteristics.

   He is a prince of a man.

Prince

²

[prins]

noun

1. Harold S(mith) Hal, 1928–2019, U.S. stage director and producer.

2. Prince Rogers Nelson, 1958–2016, U.S. singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

3. a male given name.

prince

¹

/ prɪns /

noun

1. (in Britain) a son of the sovereign or of one of the sovereign's sons

2. a nonreigning male member of a sovereign family

3. the monarch of a small territory, such as Monaco, usually called a principality, that was at some time subordinate to an emperor or king

4. any sovereign; monarch

5. a nobleman in various countries, such as Italy and Germany

6. an outstanding member of a specified group

   a merchant prince

7. informal,  a generous and charming man

Prince

²

/ prɪns /

noun

1. full name Prince Rogers Nelson. born 1958, US rock singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. His albums include Dirty Mind (1981), Purple Rain (1984), Parade (1986), and Sign o' the Times (1987)

Other Word Forms

• princeless adjective
• princeship noun
• princelike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prince¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin prīncip- (stem of prīnceps ) first, principal (adj.), principal person, leader (noun), equivalent to prīn- for prīmus prime + -cep- (combining form of capere to take) + -s nominative singular ending

Word History and Origins

Origin of prince¹

C13: via Old French from Latin princeps first man, ruler, chief

Example Sentences

At home in Saudi Arabia, the trip was touted as an unequivocal triumph for the prince.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In the Oval Office, the crown prince announced that the kingdom would increase a planned investment into America’s economy from $600 billion to $1 trillion.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Dozens of names came up in a release of court documents in 2024, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince and brother of King Charles III, former US President Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson.

Read more on BBC

The prince allegedly had the journalist killed as part of a campaign to silence or intimidate critics of the Saudi regime.

Read more on Salon

The prince denied the accusations, although other U.S. intelligence agencies later made the same formal assessment.

Read more on Los Angeles Times