prince

¹ American  

[prins] / prɪns /

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 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.

---

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

---

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)

---

Other Word Forms

• princeless adjective
• princelike adjective
• princeship noun

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

Example Sentences

Dunk wonders if the realm will need a hedge knight’s foot even more than a prince’s life.

From Salon

But it didn’t work because a prince woke her with true love’s first kiss and all that, and she lived happily ever after with her prince.

From Literature

The government has said it will publish the documents relating to the appointment of the former prince 25 years ago.

From BBC

MPs shared their personal experiences of meeting the former prince – all of them were resoundingly negative.

From BBC

The former prince was released under investigation last week following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

From BBC