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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

in principle en · ADP

Pronunciation

  • (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio

Etymology

From in + principle (the noun ultimately from Latin principium). Compare French en principe, German im Prinzip, Dutch in principe, Swedish i princip, Danish i princippet.

Meanings

  1. With regard to the fundamentals, but not to the particulars.
    • In principle, I agree with your proposal, but we need more details.
    • "If Russia mobilises, it is for defence. No nation in the world would dream of attacking Germany, nor has Germany the slightest intention of imperilling her coming supremacy amongst the nations by such crude methods as military enterprise. Servia must be punished, naturally, but to that, in principle, every nation in Europe is agreed. We shall not permit Austria to overstep the mark." 1920, Edward Phillips Oppenheim, The Great Impersonation, Chapter 25:
    • agree in principle
    • approve in principle
    • support in principle
    • The plan is acceptable in principle.
  2. According to theory.
    • The Gleichschaltung of the party took longer, but was equally inevitable: the matter was settled in principle at the Tenth Congress, in March 1921, by Lenin's attack on factionalism and 'the luxury of studying shades of opinion', and his statement that 'we must make it quite clear that we cannot have arguments about deviations and that we must put a stop to that'. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 513-514:

Relateds

on principle

Translations (35)

gd ann am prionnsabal (with regard to fundamentals) · pt em princípio (according to theory) · de im Prinzip (with regard to fundamentals) · gd ann am prionnsabal (according to theory) · hu elviekben (according to theory) · de prinzipiell (with regard to fundamentals) · sk v princípe (with regard to fundamentals) · cmn 理論上 /理论上 (according to theory) · it in linea di principio (according to theory) · nl in beginsel (with regard to fundamentals) · nl in principe (with regard to fundamentals) · ja 理論上 (according to theory) · ka პრინციპში (with regard to fundamentals) · sv i princip (with regard to fundamentals) · ru в при́нципе (with regard to fundamentals) · es en teoría (according to theory) · fi periaatteessa (with regard to fundamentals) · ms pada dasarnya (with regard to fundamentals) · hu elméletileg (according to theory) · hu elvileg (according to theory) · hu elvben (according to theory) · fr en théorie (according to theory) · rsk у началє (with regard to fundamentals) · es en principio (according to theory) · fi periaatteessa (according to theory) · ru теорети́чески (according to theory) · el κατ’ αρχήν (with regard to fundamentals) · ru в при́нципе (according to theory) · hu elméletben (according to theory) · es en principio (with regard to fundamentals) · sv i princip (according to theory) · ca en principi (according to theory) · pt em princípio (with regard to fundamentals) · rsk начално (according to theory) · fr en principe (according to theory)