principal
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.1prin·ci·pal
adjective \ˈprin(t)-s(ə-)pəl, -sə-bəl\Definition of PRINCIPAL
1
: most important, consequential, or influential : chief <the principal ingredient> <the region's principal city>
2
: of, relating to, or constituting principal or a principal(see 2principal)
See Usage Discussion at principle
— prin·ci·pal·ly \-sə-p(ə-)lē, -sə-bə-lē, -splē\ adverb
See Examples of PRINCIPAL
- Vegetables are the principal ingredients in this soup.
- She is the principal cellist of the orchestra.
- If any suspect that Griswold was exaggerating, they should reflect on the fact that the principal Supreme Court case justifying the invocation of the national security privilege was based on a governmental lie. —Garry Wills, New York Review of Books, 12 Feb. 2009
- Following the agreement, the four principal tobacco companies—Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard—raised their prices more than 45 cents per pack. The costs of the settlement, as predicted, were passed on to consumers. —Allan M. Brandt, The Cigarette Century, 2007
- Their principal industry was the manufacture, in a long, low, mostly-wooden, two-story factory, of cold cream. —Frederick Busch, Too Late American Boyhood Blues, 1984
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Origin of PRINCIPAL
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin principalis, from princip-, princeps
First Known Use: 14th century
Related to PRINCIPAL
- Synonyms
- arch, big, capital, cardinal, central, chief, dominant, first, grand, great, greatest, highest, key, leading, main, master, number one (also No. 1), numero uno, overbearing, overmastering, overriding, paramount, predominant, preeminent, premier, primal, primary, foremost, prior, sovereign (also sovran), supreme
2prin·ci·pal
noun \ˈprin(t)-s(ə-)pəl, -sə-bəl\Definition of PRINCIPAL
1
: a person who has controlling authority or is in a leading position: as a : a chief or head man or woman b : the chief executive officer of an educational institution c : one who engages another to act as an agent subject to general control and instruction; specifically : the person from whom an agent's authority derives d : the chief or an actual participant in a crime e : the person primarily or ultimately liable on a legal obligation f : a leading performer : star
2
: a matter or thing of primary importance: as a (1) : a capital sum earning interest, due as a debt, or used as a fund (2) : the corpus of an estate, portion, devise, or bequest b : the construction that gives shape and strength to a roof and is usually one of several trusses; broadly : the most important member of a piece of framing
See Usage Discussion at principle
— prin·ci·pal·ship \ˈprin(t)-s(ə-)pəl-ˌship, -sə-bəl-\ noun
Examples of PRINCIPAL
- the new high school principal
- One of the principals in the assassination plot has been arrested.
Origin of PRINCIPAL
(see 1principal)
First Known Use: 14th century
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