Principle vs. Principal

Principlenoun

A fundamental assumption or guiding belief.

Principlenoun

A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem.

Principlenoun

Moral rule or aspect.

Principlenoun

(physics) A rule or law of nature, or the basic idea on how the laws of nature are applied.

Principlenoun

A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality.

Principlenoun

(obsolete) A beginning.

Principlenoun

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

Principlenoun

An original faculty or endowment.

Principleverb

(transitive) To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet or rule of conduct.

Principlenoun

Beginning; commencement.

Principlenoun

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

Principlenoun

An original faculty or endowment.

Principlenoun

A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate.

Principlenoun

A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle.

Principlenoun

Any original inherent constituent which characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential properties, and which can usually be separated by analysis; - applied especially to drugs, plant extracts, etc.

Principleverb

To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet, or rule of conduct, good or ill.

Principlenoun

a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct;

Principlenoun

a rule or standard especially of good behavior;

Principlenoun

a basic truth or law or assumption;

Principlenoun

a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system;

Principlenoun

rule of personal conduct

Principlenoun

(law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature);

Principlenoun

a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning

Principlenoun

a rule or belief governing one's behaviour

Principlenoun

morally correct behaviour and attitudes

Principlenoun

a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field.

Principlenoun

a natural law forming the basis for the construction or working of a machine

Principlenoun

a fundamental source or basis of something

Principlenoun

a fundamental quality determining the nature of something

Principlenoun

an active or characteristic constituent of a substance, obtained by simple analysis or separation

Principle

A principle is a proposition or value that is a guide for behavior or evaluation. In law, it is a rule that has to be or usually is to be followed.

Principaladjective

Primary; most important.

Principaladjective

Of or relating to a prince; princely.

Principalnoun

The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

Principalnoun

The chief administrator of a school.

Principalnoun

The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.

Principalnoun

(legal) A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on one′s behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.

Principalnoun

(legal) The primary participant in a crime.

Principalnoun

(North America) A partner or owner of a business.

Principalnoun

(music) A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.

Principalnoun

The construction that gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron; or, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.

Principalnoun

The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing.

Principalnoun

One of the turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and centre of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned.

Principalnoun

(obsolete) An essential point or rule; a principle.

Principalnoun

A dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company.

Principalnoun

(computing) A security principal.

Principaladjective

Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case.

Principaladjective

Of or pertaining to a prince; princely.

Principalnoun

A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; - distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.

Principalnoun

The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, - as distinguished from an accessory.

Principalnoun

A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous.

Principalnoun

the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

Principalnoun

the educator who has executive authority for a school;

Principalnoun

an actor who plays a principal role

Principalnoun

capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

Principalnoun

the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

Principaladjective

most important element;

Principaladjective

first in order of importance; main

Principaladjective

denoting an original sum invested or lent

Principalnoun

the most important or senior person in an organization or group

Principalnoun

the head of a school, college, or other educational institution

Principalnoun

the leading performer in a concert, play, ballet, or opera

Principalnoun

the leading player in each section of an orchestra

Principalnoun

(in certain professions) a fully qualified practitioner

Principalnoun

(in the UK) a senior civil servant in charge of a particular section.

Principalnoun

a sum of money lent or invested, on which interest is paid

Principalnoun

a person for whom another acts as an agent or representative

Principalnoun

the person directly responsible for a crime.

Principalnoun

each of the combatants in a duel.

Principalnoun

a main rafter supporting purlins.

Principalnoun

an organ stop sounding a main register of open flue pipes typically an octave above the diapason