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Definitions for Principle

[1] an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: a person of good moral principles.
[2] a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived: the principles of modern physics.
[3] a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion: the principles of the Stoics.
[4] principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management: to adhere to one's principles; a kindergarten run on modern principles.
[5] guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct: a person of principle.
[6] an adopted rule or method for application in action: a working principle for general use.
[7] a rule or law exemplified in natural phenomena, the construction or operation of a machine, the working of a system, or the like: the principle of capillary attraction.
[8] the method of formation, operation, or procedure exhibited in a given case: a community organized on the patriarchal principle.
[9] a determining characteristic of something; essential quality.
[10] an originating or actuating agency or force: growth is the principle of life.
[11] an actuating agency in the mind or character, as an instinct, faculty, or natural tendency: the principles of human behavior.
[12] Chemistry . a constituent of a substance, especially one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
[13] Obsolete . beginning or commencement.
[14] in principle , in essence or substance; fundamentally: to accept a plan in principle.
[15] on principle , according to personal rules for right conduct; as a matter of moral principle: He refused on principle to agree to the terms of the treaty. according to a fixed rule, method, or practice: He drank hot milk every night on principle.
[16] a standard or rule of personal conduct a man of principle
[17] (often plural) a set of such moral rules he'd stoop to anything ; he has no principles
[18] adherence to such a moral code; morality it's not the money but the principle of the thing ; torn between principle and expediency
[19] a fundamental or general truth or law first principles
[20] the essence of something the male principle
[21] a source or fundamental cause; origin principle of life
[22] a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the behaviour of a system the principle of the conservation of mass
[23] an underlying or guiding theory or belief the hereditary principle ; socialist principles
[24] chem a constituent of a substance that gives the substance its characteristics and behaviour bitter principle
[25] in principle in theory or essence
[26] on principle because of or in demonstration of a principle
[27] Christian Science another word for God

Words related to Principle

ethic, foundation, doctrine, basis, truth, rule, proposition, precept, regulation, assumption, fundamental, convention, origin, dictum, form, dogma, prescript, canon, maxim, source

Words nearby Principle

principalities, principality, principally, principate, principium, principle, principle of complementarity, principle of economy, principle of indifference, principle of least action, principle of mathematical induction

Origin of Principle

1350–1400; Middle English, alteration of Middle French principe or Latin prīncipium, on the analogy of manciple. See principium

Words that may be confused with Principle

principal, principle, (see, usage, note, at, principal), (see, synonym, study, at, the, current, entry)

Word origin for Principle

C14: from Latin principium beginning, basic tenet

Synonyms for Principle

assumption, basis, convention, doctrine, ethic, foundation, fundamental, precept, proposition, regulation, rule, truth, axiom, canon, criterion, dictum, dogma, form, formula, ground, maxim, origin, postulate, prescript, source, theorem, usage, verity, golden rule, principium