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Synonyms

principium

American  
[prin-sip-ee-uhm] / prɪnˈsɪp i əm /

noun

  • principia
    plural
  1. a principle.


principium British  
/ prɪnˈsɪpɪəm /

noun

  1. (usually plural) a principle, esp a fundamental one

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of principium

1575–85; < Latin prīncipium literally, that which is first, equivalent to prīncip- ( see prince) + -ium -ium


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

It is one, not with the unity of an object or of a concept, but as that which lies outside of space and time, beyond the principium individuationis, that is, the possibility of plurality.

From Schopenhauer by Thomas Whittaker

The explanation of the cause of evil by a particular principle, per principium maleficum, is of the same nature.

From Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil by E.M. Huggard

The initium is pushed out of the way by that which follows; the principium serves as a basis for that which follows.

From Döderlein's Hand-book of Latin Synonymes by Ludwig Döderlein

It is a great error in physiology not to distinguish between what may be called the general or fundamental life—the principium vitae, and the functional life—the life in the functions.

From Specimens of the Table Talk of Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Henry Nelson Coleridge

In other systems the principium is determined in its evolution or creative activity by the efficacy of works, whereas in this system the principium is the Lord not thus determined.

From The Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha Review of the Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy by Madhava Acharya

Fifty-five years later, Isaac Newton’s great work, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, further reinforced the coherence of the Copernican system, with laws of mechanics and gravity that reinforced the model.

From Forbes ● Sep. 18, 2014

At the crossroads outside the principia, a figure in dark robes stood shackled to the ice.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

She stormed into the principia with her purple cloak billowing, and her greyhounds at her feet.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

Figures in Roman armor emerged from the barracks, the principia, the armory, and the canteen, but they weren’t human.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

At the crossroads, in front of the snow-brick principia, a tall, dark- robed figure stood, bound in icy chains.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

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