Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

principial

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: prin-cip-i-al
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Elementary; fundamental.

Example Sentences

"On account of heat being kindled by the attrition of bodies, reject a principial nature. By principial nature I mean that which exists in the nature of things positively, and not as the effect of any antecedent nature."
"My only aim will be to trace the dislocating work of the two conditions that ensue, namely, the principial condition over which the foundation presides and the ground as the originary condition."
"The latter, a principial christocentrism, may include the monergistic view of salvation, but it will also assume that Christ is the principium cognoscendi theologiae or, in Kickel's phrase the Erkenntnissgrund of theology."

Etymology

Probably a learned borrowing from Latin prī̆ncipiālis. By surface analysis, principia + -al.

Inflected Forms

more principial (comparative) most principial (superlative)

Questions

What does principial mean?: Elementary; fundamental.
Where does principial come from?: Probably a learned borrowing from Latin prī̆ncipiālis. By surface analysis, principia + -al.

How to pronounce principial

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “principial”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “principial”.
Repeat and practice — Say “principial” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.