principle en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- [ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pɫ̩] (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈpɹɪn.sə.pəl/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- [ˈpɹɪn.sə.pɫ̩] (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English principle, from Old French principe, from Latin prīncipium (“beginning, foundation”), from prīnceps (“first”). By surface analysis, prīmus (“first”) + -ceps (“catcher”); the former ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”); see also prince.
Meanings
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A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief.
Let us consider ‘my dog is asleep on the floor’ again. Frege thinks that this sentence can be analyzed in various different ways. Instead of treating it as expressing the application of __ is asleep on the floor to my dog, we can think of it as expressing the application of the concept my dog is asleep on __ to the object the floor (see Frege 1919). Frege recognizes what is now a commonplace in the logical analysis of natural language. We can attribute more than one logical form to a single sentence. Let us call this the principle of multiple analyses. Frege does not claim that the principle always holds, but as we shall see, modern type theory does claim this.
2011 July 20, Edwin Mares, “Propositional Functions”, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, archived from the original on 15 Dec 2012:We need some sort of principles to reason from.
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A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem.
Mr. Genachowski proposed codifying the new principles with four existing principles issued several years ago by the F.C.C. They say that network operators cannot prevent users from accessing lawful Internet content, applications and services of their choice, nor can they prohibit users from attaching nonharmful devices to the network.
2009 September 22, Reuters, “F.C.C. Calls Open Internet Rules Vital”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2020:The principle of least privilege holds that a process should only receive the permissions it needs.
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(qualifier:sometimes pluralized) Moral rule or aspect.
I don't doubt your principles.
It's the principle of the thing; I won't do business with someone I can't trust.
You are clearly a person of principle.
Lavinia—shrewd, careless, clever; ready to meet any difficulty, however humiliating, that might occur; utterly without principle; confident in that good fortune, which she scrupled at no means of attaining—was the very type of the real.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Author and the Actress”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 105:
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A rule or law of nature, or the basic idea on how the laws of nature are applied.
The Pauli Exclusion Principle prevents two fermions from occupying the same state.
Bernoulli's principle
The principle of the internal combustion engine
Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.
2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
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A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality.
Many believe that life is the result of some vital principle.
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A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality. ▸ A chemical compound within plant or animal tissue that is characteristic of it and more or less peculiar to it, such that it defines the character of that tissue from a human viewpoint (as for example nicotine in tobacco).
Cathartine is the bitter, purgative principle of senna.
1845, William Gregory, Outlines of Chemistry:the active principle
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A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.
The soul of man is an active principle.
1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], London: […] B. Aylmer, […]; [a]nd W. Rogers, […], published 1696, →OCLC:
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An original faculty or endowment.
those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the communication either of enjoyment or suffering
1828, Dugald Stewart, The Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man:
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(alt-of, misspelling) Misspelling of principal.
alt of principal
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(obsolete) A beginning.
Doubting sad end of principle unsound.
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| principles | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
day-year principle · context principle · mediocrity principle · matter of principle · Heisenberg's principle · subprinciple · polluter pays principle · Matthew principle · handicap principle · principle of contradiction · life-dinner principle · principlist · principle of Pseudo-Scotus · Rydberg-Ritz combination principle · indeterminacy principle · metaprinciple · principle of least surprise · verification principle · unprinciple · Mitchell principle · MAYA principle · Copernican principle · principle of parsimony · agreement in principle · BANANA principle · extractive principle · acceleration principle · Mach's principle · Robbins principle · verifiability principle · Kerckhoffs's principle · cooperative principle · Pareto principle · precautionary principle · Landauer's principle · rebus principle · Spider-Man principle · Bernoulli's principle · harm principle · principle of least action · parsimony principle · Scheimpflug principle · reality principle · principle of explosion · Courant minimax principle · Hardy-Weinberg principle · principle of least time · dormitive principle · principle of indifference · first principles · Ritz's combination principle · interface segregation principle · Franck-Condon principle · Copernican time principle · dependency inversion principle · principle of locality · Huygens-Fresnel principle · Le Châtelier's principle · Le Chatelier's principle · Babinet's principle · antiprinciple · Lotus principle · non-aggression principle · composite reuse principle · single responsibility principle · Heisenberg principle · anthropic principle · proximate principle · Haldane principle · principle of substitutivity · in principle · Planck's principle · Pauli exclusion principle · Lagrange-d'Alembert principle · Dilbert principle · Fermat's principle of least time · principled · Peter Parker principle · Anna Karenina principle · Fermat's principle · KISS principle · principle of sufficient reason · principle of excluded middle · four-eye principle · Dirichlet's drawer principle · nonaggression principle · sector principle · Huygens' principle · Goldilocks principle · Sandford principle · principlism · Novikov self-consistency principle · principle of least knowledge · principle of relativity · aufbau principle · principle of charity · principle of least astonishment · Dirichlet's box principle · correspondence principle · Chicago principles · open-closed principle · Cavalieri's principle · Archimedes' principle · arm's length principle · equivalence principle · d'Alembert's principle · Bridlington principle · holographic principle · Liskov substitution principle · counterprinciple · cosmological principle · vicious circle principle · open/closed principle · IBM Pollyanna Principle · uncertainty principle · desert principle · principle of verifiability · Heisenberg uncertainty principle · Q-principle · Smurfette principle · Shirky principle · on principle · first principle · R-principle · principle of insufficient reason · Hollywood principle · Micawber principle · strong equivalence principle · reciprocity principle · superposition principle · principle of verification · Yao's principle · life/dinner principle · Fick principle · Peter principle · pigeonhole principle · pleasure principle · principle of legality
Relateds
prince · principal · principality
Synonyms
Translations (207)
hi असूल (fundamental assumption) · fi luonnonlaki (rule of nature) · he עִקָּרוֹן (rule to solve a problem) · es principio (rule of nature) · sh prìncīp (fundamental assumption) · th คติ (fundamental assumption) · pt princípio (fundamental assumption) · sk zásada (fundamental assumption) · ca principi (fundamental assumption) · cs princip (rule of nature) · enm comaundement (moral rule or aspect) · hi जड़सूत्र (fundamental assumption) · nl principe (moral rule or aspect) · ky ынаным (fundamental assumption) · ml തത്ത്വം (fundamental assumption) · cy egwyddor (fundamental assumption) · sl načelo (moral rule or aspect) · it principio (rule of nature) · ast principiu (fundamental assumption) · kk қағидат (fundamental assumption) · de Prinzip (rule to solve a problem) · hi नियम (fundamental assumption) · lo ຫລັກ (fundamental assumption) · ga prionsabal (fundamental assumption) · de Prinzip (fundamental assumption) · fi prinsiippi (fundamental assumption) · tr ilke (moral rule or aspect) · sh načélo (fundamental assumption) · th กฎ (fundamental assumption) · tg усул (fundamental assumption) · et põhimõte (fundamental assumption) · he עִקָּרוֹן (rule of nature) · ro principiu (fundamental assumption) · it principio (fundamental assumption) · vi nguyên tắc (fundamental assumption) · uk при́нцип (moral rule or aspect) · ja 原則 (rule to solve a problem) · sa नियम (fundamental assumption) · it principio (moral rule or aspect) · hy պրինցիպ (fundamental assumption) · kk қағида (fundamental assumption) · yue 原則 /原则 (fundamental assumption) · hy սկզբնապատճառ (fundamental assumption) · fi perusoletus (fundamental assumption) · de Prinzip (moral rule or aspect) · sl načelo (fundamental assumption) · sh прѝнцӣп (fundamental assumption) · fi prinsiippi (moral rule or aspect) · vi nguyên lí (fundamental assumption) · be пры́нцып (fundamental assumption) · it regola (rule to solve a problem) · hy սկզբունք (moral rule or aspect) · gd prionnsabal (rule to solve a problem) · lt principas (fundamental assumption) · mi mātāpono (moral rule or aspect) · cs princip (fundamental assumption) · pt princípio (rule of nature) · ru при́нцип (fundamental assumption) · bg при́нцип (rule of nature) · mk принцип (fundamental assumption) · nb prinsipp (moral rule or aspect) · ota تمل (fundamental assumption) · hy սկզբունք (fundamental assumption) · tg асл (fundamental assumption) · ru при́нцип (rule to solve a problem) · nn prinsipp (moral rule or aspect) · tg қоида (fundamental assumption) · da princip (fundamental assumption) · et põhimõte (moral rule or aspect) · uk при́нцип (fundamental assumption) · lo ກະທູ້ (fundamental assumption) · bg пра́вило (rule to solve a problem) · bg при́нцип (fundamental assumption) · my နိယာမ (fundamental assumption) · el αρχή (fundamental assumption) · tr prensip (moral rule or aspect) · cy egwyddor (rule to solve a problem) · mt prinċipju (fundamental assumption) · ja 信念 (moral rule or aspect) · sv princip (rule to solve a problem) · sl načelo (rule to solve a problem) · eo principo (rule of nature) · nn prinsipp (rule to solve a problem) · ko 원리 (rule of nature) · kk қағидат (rule to solve a problem) · ckb بیرو باوەر (moral rule or aspect) · tl simulain (moral rule or aspect) · cy egwyddor (moral rule or aspect) · ps قاعده (fundamental assumption) · ur قاعِدَہ (fundamental assumption) · fr principe (moral rule or aspect) · ml തത്ത്വം (rule of nature) · tg принтсип (fundamental assumption) · tr prensip (fundamental assumption) · th หลักการ (fundamental assumption) · fa-ira قاعِدِه (fundamental assumption) · sh наче́ло (fundamental assumption) · gd prionnsabal (fundamental assumption) · lv princips (fundamental assumption) · ms prinsip (fundamental assumption) · lo ຫຼັກການ (fundamental assumption) · eo principo (rule to solve a problem) · ml തത്ത്വം (moral rule or aspect) · hy սկզբունք (rule to solve a problem) · uk зако́н (rule of nature) · hy օրենք (rule to solve a problem) · tl simulain (fundamental assumption) · fr principe (rule to solve a problem) · ka პრინციპი (fundamental assumption) · fa-ira اَصْل (fundamental assumption) · bn নিয়ম (fundamental assumption) · kk принцип (rule to solve a problem) · ug پرىنسىپ (fundamental assumption) · sv princip (moral rule or aspect) · ur اَصْل (fundamental assumption) · cs zásada (moral rule or aspect) · fi peruste (fundamental assumption) · pl reguła (fundamental assumption) · uz prinsip (fundamental assumption) · tk prinsip (fundamental assumption) · kk қағидат (moral rule or aspect) · tg асос (fundamental assumption) · eo principo (fundamental assumption) · et printsiip (fundamental assumption) · nb prinsipp (fundamental assumption) · gd prionnsabal (rule of nature) · ps اصل (fundamental assumption) · fr principe (fundamental assumption) · uk при́нцип (rule to solve a problem) · tr ilke (rule of nature) · pl zasada (rule of nature) · nn prinsipp (rule of nature) · bg при́нцип (moral rule or aspect) · he עִקָּרוֹן (fundamental assumption) · sa उपदेश (moral rule or aspect) · is prinsipp (fundamental assumption) · ky принцип (fundamental assumption) · km មូលភាព (fundamental assumption) · pt princípio (rule to solve a problem) · id prinsip (fundamental assumption) · es principio (rule to solve a problem) · la institūtum (fundamental assumption) · it valore (moral rule or aspect) · yue 原理 (fundamental assumption) · ja 主義 (moral rule or aspect) · sl princip (fundamental assumption) · yi פּרינציפּ (fundamental assumption) · nb prinsipp (rule of nature) · ko 원칙 (fundamental assumption) · ja 原理 (rule of nature) · fi periaate (moral rule or aspect) · ja 主義 (rule to solve a problem) · lb Prinzip (fundamental assumption) · he עִקָּרוֹן (moral rule or aspect) · fr principe (rule of nature) · cmn 原理 (fundamental assumption) · pl zasada (moral rule or aspect) · sq parim (fundamental assumption) · is prinsipp (moral rule or aspect) · nb prinsipp (rule to solve a problem) · gd prionnsabal (moral rule or aspect) · mi mātāpono (fundamental assumption) · tl simulain (rule to solve a problem) · pl reguła (rule to solve a problem) · ru при́нцип (moral rule or aspect) · pl zasada (fundamental assumption) · th นโยบาย (fundamental assumption) · th หลัก (fundamental assumption) · pl zasada (rule to solve a problem) · tr kanun (rule of nature) · tl simulain (rule of nature) · ota قاعده (rule of nature) · is lögmál (fundamental assumption) · az prinsip (fundamental assumption) · nl principe (fundamental assumption) · sv princip (fundamental assumption) · ko 원리 (fundamental assumption) · cmn 原則 /原则 (moral rule or aspect) · tr ilke (fundamental assumption) · sk princíp (fundamental assumption) · ar قاعِدَة (fundamental assumption) · kk ұстаным (fundamental assumption) · de Naturgesetz (rule of nature) · fi periaate (rule to solve a problem) · pt princípio (moral rule or aspect) · de Grundsatz (fundamental assumption) · es principio (fundamental assumption) · ja 原則 (fundamental assumption) · ja 原理 (fundamental assumption) · km គោលការណ៍ (fundamental assumption) · ar مَبْدَأ (fundamental assumption) · hy սկզբունք (rule of nature) · eo principo (moral rule or aspect) · es principio (moral rule or aspect) · cmn 原則 /原则 (fundamental assumption) · kmr prensîp (fundamental assumption) · ja 行動指針 (moral rule or aspect) · qu tiksi (fundamental assumption) · hi क़ायदा (fundamental assumption) · mk начело (fundamental assumption) · mn зарчим (fundamental assumption) · vo prinsip (fundamental assumption) · cs zásada (fundamental assumption) · pl prawo (rule of nature) · ca principi (moral rule or aspect) · nl beginsel (fundamental assumption) · hu elv (fundamental assumption)