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• prince
  prince

  noun

  a nonreigning male member of a royal family.
• Prince
  Prince

  noun

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

prince

¹ American  

[prins] / prɪns /

noun

• princes
  plural

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.

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Prince ² American  

[prins] / prɪns /

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.

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prince ¹ British  

/ 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

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Prince ² British  

/ 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)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• princeship
  noun
• princeless
  adjective
• princelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• princes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prince

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

Explanation

A prince is royalty, the son of a king or queen. Originally, a prince was the ruler of and individual territory, also known as “principalities.” A prince is a popular fairy tale hero, but there are real live ones, too. A prince is the son of a monarch, possibly even the person who stands to inherit the title of king after his father's death. Sometimes, though, a prince is simply a member of the royal family, or even a ruler over a small area of the monarch's country. Prince comes from the Latin princeps, "first man" or "ruler," from primus, "first." A prince is often first in line to inherit the throne.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prince Prince princes

Troilus, a prince of Troy, loves Cressida, whose father defects to the Greek besiegers and forces his daughter to change sides with him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The prince joined volunteers harvesting seeds from a field maple tree and planted a sessile oak tree - designated as the national tree of Wales.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“I’m the prince of Insein Prison,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Cruise has known the prince and princess for a number of years and also met William's mother, Princess Diana, and attended her funeral in 1997.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

The prince seemed a little taken aback by the display in front of him, especially when half a peach landed on his shoe.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

He likened it to how sales of the Big Issue increase when Prince William helps to sell the magazine for the homeless.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Mr. Costanzo pays tribute to both men—as well as to pop artists such as Michael Jackson and Prince, who turned the falsetto voice into a sound that won millions of listeners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

She singles out Martika’s 1991 collaboration with Prince, “Love … They Will be Done” as her own anthem.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

The property has hosted a slew of A-lister guests, including Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

When they got to the apothecary shop, Dr. Stearns was busy talking to the Reverend Dr. Prince and Dr. Holyoke.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

"All my daughter knows about princes or princesses is probably contained to a movie... she whispered to me and said, 'Where is his crown? Did he leave it in the car?'"

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Each trade has its kings and queens, its princes and princesses.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

Many excluded Indians altogether or admitted only a small number of princes and magnates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

This changed when “Heated Rivalry” actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams broke the formula, starring as two rival fae princes in “Ember & Ice,” Quinn’s most popular series to date.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

On the other hand, it is evident that when princes have given more thought to delicate refinements than to military concerns, they have lost their state.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli