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Principle
A principle is a concept or value that is a guide for behavior or evaluation. In law, it is a rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its users as the essential characteristics of the system, or reflecting system’s designed purpose, and the effective operation or use of which would be impossible if any one of the principles was to be ignored. A system may be explicitly based on and implemented from a document of principles as was done in IBM’s 360/370 Principles of Operation.
Examples of principles are, entropy in a number of fields, least action in physics, those in descriptive comprehensive and fundamental law: doctrines or assumptions forming normative rules of conduct, separation of church and state in statecraft, the central dogma of molecular biology, fairness in ethics, etc.
In common English, it is a substantive and collective term referring to rule governance, the absence of which, being “unprincipled”, is considered a character defect. It may also be used to declare that a reality has diverged from some ideal or norm as when something is said to be true only “in principle” but not in fact.
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Principle (noun)
A fundamental assumption or guiding belief.
“We need some sort of principles to reason from.”
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Principle (noun)
A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem.
“The principle of least privilege holds that a process should only receive the permissions it needs.”
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Principle (noun)
Moral rule or aspect.
“I don’t doubt your principles.”
“You are clearly a person of principle.”
“It’s the principle of the thing; I won’t do business with someone I can’t trust.”
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Principle (noun)
A rule or law of nature, or the basic idea on how the laws of nature are applied.
“Bernoulli’s Principle”
“The Pauli Exclusion Principle prevents two fermions from occupying the same state.”
“The principle of the internal combustion engine”
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Principle (noun)
A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality.
“Many believe that life is the result of some vital principle.”
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Principle (noun)
A beginning.
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Principle (noun)
A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.
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Principle (noun)
An original faculty or endowment.
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Principle (verb)
To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet or rule of conduct.
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Principal (adjective)
Primary; most important.
“Smith is the principal architect of this design.”
“The principal cause of the failure was poor planning.”
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Principal (adjective)
Of or relating to a prince; princely.
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Principal (noun)
The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.
“A portion of your mortgage payment goes to reduce the principal, and the rest covers interest.”
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Principal (noun)
The chief administrator of a school.
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Principal (noun)
The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.
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Principal (noun)
A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on one′s behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.
“When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the client′s agent, to act on the client′s behalf.”
“My principal sells metal shims.”
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Principal (noun)
The primary participant in a crime.
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Principal (noun)
A partner or owner of a business.
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Principal (noun)
A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.
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Principal (noun)
The construction that gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron; or, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.
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Principal (noun)
The first two long feathers of a hawk’s wing.
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Principal (noun)
One of the turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and centre of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned.
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Principal (noun)
An essential point or rule; a principle.
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Principal (noun)
A dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company.
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Principal (noun)
A security principal.
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Principle (noun)
a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning
“the basic principles of justice”
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Principle (noun)
a rule or belief governing one’s behaviour
“she resigned over a matter of principle”
“struggling to be true to their own principles”
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Principle (noun)
morally correct behaviour and attitudes
“a man of principle”
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Principle (noun)
a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field.
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Principle (noun)
a natural law forming the basis for the construction or working of a machine
“these machines all operate on the same general principle”
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Principle (noun)
a fundamental source or basis of something
“the first principle of all things was water”
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Principle (noun)
a fundamental quality determining the nature of something
“the combination of male and female principles”
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Principle (noun)
an active or characteristic constituent of a substance, obtained by simple analysis or separation
“the active principle of Spanish fly”
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Principal (adjective)
first in order of importance; main
“the country’s principal cities”
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Principal (adjective)
denoting an original sum invested or lent
“the principal amount of your investment”
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Principal (noun)
the most important or senior person in an organization or group
“a design consultancy whose principal is based in San Francisco”
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Principal (noun)
the head of a school, college, or other educational institution
“I was appointed principal of the new school”
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Principal (noun)
the leading performer in a concert, play, ballet, or opera
“the singing style of the principals”
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Principal (noun)
the leading player in each section of an orchestra
“he had been an outstanding principal in the orchestra”
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Principal (noun)
(in certain professions) a fully qualified practitioner
“principals in general practice are self-employed and controlled by their practice agreements”
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Principal (noun)
(in the UK) a senior civil servant in charge of a particular section.
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Principal (noun)
a sum of money lent or invested, on which interest is paid
“the winners are paid from the interest without even touching the principal”
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Principal (noun)
a person for whom another acts as an agent or representative
“stockbrokers in Tokyo act as agents rather than as principals”
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Principal (noun)
the person directly responsible for a crime.
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Principal (noun)
each of the combatants in a duel.
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Principal (noun)
a main rafter supporting purlins.
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Principal (noun)
an organ stop sounding a main register of open flue pipes typically an octave above the diapason
“all the principals are on one manual”