Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
prin•ci•ple(ˈprɪn sə pəl)
Principal can be an adjective or a noun.
The principal thing or person in a group is the most important one.
The principal of a school or college is the person in charge of it.
Principle is always a noun. A principle is a general rule that someone's behaviour or ideas are based on.
|Noun||1.||principle - a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct; "their principles of composition characterized all their works"|
generalisation, generality, generalization - an idea or conclusion having general application; "he spoke in broad generalities"
pillar - a fundamental principle or practice; "science eroded the pillars of superstition"
yang - the bright positive masculine principle in Chinese dualistic cosmology; "yin and yang together produce everything that comes into existence"
yin - the dark negative feminine principle in Chinese dualistic cosmology; "the interaction of yin and yang maintains the harmony of the universe"
feng shui - rules in Chinese philosophy that govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to patterns of yin and yang and the flow of energy (qi); the favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into consideration in designing and siting buildings and graves and furniture
|2.||principle - a rule or standard especially of good behavior; "a man of principle"; "he will not violate his principles"|
value - an ideal accepted by some individual or group; "he has old-fashioned values"
accounting principle, accounting standard - a principle that governs current accounting practice and that is used as a reference to determine the appropriate treatment of complex transactions
ethic, moral principle, value orientation, value-system - the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group; "the Puritan ethic"; "a person with old-fashioned values"
Hellenism - the principles and ideals associated with classical Greek civilization
judicial doctrine, judicial principle, legal principle - (law) a principle underlying the formulation of jurisprudence
scruple - an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action
|3.||principle - a basic truth or law or assumption; "the principles of democracy"|
natural law, law - a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
dictate - a guiding principle; "the dictates of reason"
basic principle, fundamental principle, fundamentals, basics, bedrock - principles from which other truths can be derived; "first you must learn the fundamentals"; "let's get down to basics"
logic - the principles that guide reasoning within a given field or situation; "economic logic requires it"; "by the logic of war"
pleasure principle, pleasure-pain principle, pleasure-unpleasure principle - (psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the id; the principle that an infant seeks gratification and fails to distinguish fantasy from reality
reality principle - (psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the ego; the principle that as a child grows it becomes aware of the real environment and the need to accommodate to it
insurrectionism - the principle of revolt against constituted authority
conservation - (physics) the maintenance of a certain quantities unchanged during chemical reactions or physical transformations
Tao - the ultimate principle of the universe
|4.||principle - a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system; "the principle of the conservation of mass"; "the principle of jet propulsion"; "the right-hand rule for inductive fields"|
law of nature, law - a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature; "the laws of thermodynamics"
Gestalt law of organization, Gestalt principle of organization - a principle of Gestalt psychology that identifies factors leading to particular forms of perceptual organization
Le Chatelier principle, Le Chatelier-Braun principle, Le Chatelier's law, Le Chatelier's principle - the principle that if any change is imposed on a system that is in equilibrium then the system tends to adjust to a new equilibrium counteracting the change
Gresham's Law - (economics) the principle that when two kinds of money having the same denominational value are in circulation the intrinsically more valuable money will be hoarded and the money of lower intrinsic value will circulate more freely until the intrinsically more valuable money is driven out of circulation; bad money drives out good; credited to Sir Thomas Gresham
mass-energy equivalence - (physics) the principle that a measured quantity of mass is equivalent (according to relativity theory) to a measured quantity of energy
Naegele's rule - rule for calculating an expected delivery date; subtract three months from the first day of the last menstrual period and add seven days to that date
law of parsimony, Occam's Razor, Ockham's Razor, principle of parsimony - the principle that entities should not be multiplied needlessly; the simplest of two competing theories is to be preferred
principle of equivalence - (physics) the principle that an observer has no way of distinguishing whether his laboratory is in a uniform gravitational field or is in an accelerated frame of reference
principle of liquid displacement - (hydrostatics) the volume of a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the volume of the displaced fluid
Huygens' principle of superposition, principle of superposition - the displacement of any point due to the superposition of wave systems is equal to the sum of the displacements of the individual waves at that point; "the principle of superposition is the basis of the wave theory of light"
principle of superposition, superposition principle, superposition - (geology) the principle that in a series of stratified sedimentary rocks the lowest stratum is the oldest
mass action, mass-action principle - (neurology) the principle that the cortex of the brain operates as a coordinated system with large masses of neural tissue involved in all complex functioning
|5.||principle - rule of personal conduct|
higher law - a principle that takes precedent over the laws of society
moral principle - the principle that conduct should be moral
hypothetical imperative - a principle stating the action required to attain a desired goal
caveat emptor - a commercial principle that without a warranty the buyer takes upon himself the risk of quality
|6.||principle - (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature); "the rationale for capital punishment"; "the principles of internal-combustion engines"|
explanation - thought that makes something comprehensible
dialectics - a rationale for dialectical materialism based on change through the conflict of opposing forces
"It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them" [Alfred Adler]
principle[ˈprɪnsəpl] N (gen, Sci) → principio m
the basic principles of physics → los principios básicos de física
the principle that → el principio según el cual ...
to lay it down as a principle that → sentar el principio de que ...
it is or it goes against my principles → va (en) contra (de) mis principios
to go back to first principles → volver a los principios (fundamentales)
to argue from first principles → construir un argumento sobre los principios (fundamentales)
to have high principles → tener principios nobles
in principle → en principio
to reach an agreement in principle → llegar a un acuerdo de principio or en principio
I make it a principle never to lend money → tengo por norma no prestar nunca dinero, yo, por principio, nunca presto dinero
as a matter of principle → por principio
it's a matter of principle → es cuestión de principios
a man/woman of (high) principles → un hombre/una mujer de principios (nobles)
on principle → por principio, por una cuestión de principios
it's the principle of the thing → es cuestión de principios
see also guiding
a matter of principle → une question de principe
on principle → par principe
to do sth on principle → faire qch par principe
In principle, there's nothing to stop you → En principe, rien ne t'en empêche.
to agree to sth in principle (= in general terms) [person] → être d'accord avec le principe de qch
I wish to know if you agree in principle to the idea → J'aimerais savoir si vous êtes d'accord avec le principe.; [people] → se mettre d'accord sur le principe de qch
They have agreed in principle to the plan → Ils se sont mis d'accord sur le principe du projet.
to approve sth in principle (= in general terms) → approuver le principe de qch
The draft had been welcomed in principle by local authorities → Le principe de l'avant-projet a été bien accueilli par les autorités locales. principles
principle[ˈprɪnsəpl] n → principio
in principle → in linea di principio
on principle → per principio
it's a matter of principle, it's the principle of the thing → è una questione di principio
a man of principle → un uomo di saldi principi
it's against my principles → è contrario ai miei principi
to go back to first principles (fig) → tornare alle origini