principal
/ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.52 in modern English
Meaning
adj
Primary; most important; first level in importance.
adj
Chosen or assumed among a branch of possible values of a multi-valued function so that the function is single-valued.
noun
The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.
Uncountable
noun
The chief administrator of a school.
Australian usage; Canadian usage; New Zealand usage; American usage; Countable; Uncountable
noun
The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.
Canadian usage; British usage; Countable; Uncountable
noun
A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on their behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Smith is the principal architect of this design."
- "The principal cause of the failure was poor planning."
- "In a word, the Epiſodes of Homer are complete Epiſodes; they are proper to the ſubject, because they are drawn from the ground of the fable; they are ſo joined to the principal action, that one is the neceſſary conſequence of the other, either truly or probably: and laſtly, they are imperfect members which do not make a complete and finiſhed body; for an Epiſode that makes a complete action, cannot be part of a principal action; as is eſſential to all Epiſodes."
- "For many years, Oslo had no railway communication with Bergen and Stavanger, the principal seaports on the south-west coast."
- "The principal treasure of ths department, however, is the Stele of Hammurabi (1792—1750 B.C.), king of the first Babylonian kingdom, a basalt cylinder 2.25m/7ft 5in. inscribed with Hammurabi's laws written in Akkadian in cuneiform script."
- "In theory, there are the same number of principal components as there are variables, but in practice, usually only a few of the principal components need to be identified to account for most of the data variance."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *keh₂p-, principal, prīncipālis
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/
- British English: /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/
Usage
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Australian usage
- Canadian usage
- New Zealand usage
- American usage
- Countable
- British usage