Advertisement

Advertisement

principal parts

noun

, (used with a plural verb)
  1. a set of inflected forms of a form class from which all the other inflected forms can be derived, as sing, sang, sung; smoke, smoked.


principal parts

plural noun

  1. grammar the main inflected forms of a verb, from which all other inflections may be deduced. In English they are generally considered to consist of the third person present singular, present participle, past tense, and past participle
  2. the sides and interior angles of a triangle
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of principal parts1

First recorded in 1865–70
Discover More

Example Sentences

But your heart really had to go out to Laracey, who after stepping in to principal parts in “Symphony in Three Movements” and “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” tested positive for the coronavirus and was forced out of “Orpheus,” as well as “Apollo.”

Kouatchou’s Christine is the last of the three principal parts in Broadway’s “Phantom” to break the color barrier.

Though the company has no official ranks, Ms. Harkins has performed most of the principal parts: Cinderella, Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty” and Sugarplum in “The Nutcracker.”

In my second year of classes, reading Sophocles’ “Antigone” with Professor Laura Slatkin, I copied the Greek text painstakingly into my notebook, observing every diacritical mark, and covered the facing page with vocabulary notes—verbs with their principal parts, nouns with their genders and genitives.

It’s as if Ballet Theater plucked a page from the casting manual of New York City Ballet, which often throws young dancers into principal parts.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement