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principle.

A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pɫ̩]Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹɪn.sə.pəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɪn.sə.pɫ̩]Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief.

    We need some sort of principles to reason from.
  2. 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.
  3. Moral rule or aspect.

    I don't doubt your principles.
    You are clearly a person of principle.
  4. 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.
  5. A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality.

    Many believe that life is the result of some vital principle.
  6. 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).

    the active principle
  7. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.

  8. An original faculty or endowment.

  9. Misspelling of principal.

    alt-of · misspelling
  10. A beginning.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pɫ̩]Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹɪn.sə.pəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɪn.sə.pɫ̩]Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet or rule of conduct.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.