Definitions for Principle

• Definition
• Anagrams (205)

Principle prin·ci·ple

Spelling: [prin-suh-puh l]

IPA: /ˈprɪn sə pəl/

Principle is a 9 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 15 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 20 points.

You can make 205 anagrams from letters in Principle (ceiilnppr).

Definitions for Principle

noun

1. an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct:
2. a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived:
3. a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion:
4. principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management:
5. guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct:
6. an adopted rule or method for application in action:
7. a rule or law exemplified in natural phenomena, the construction or operation of a machine, the working of a system, or the like:
8. the method of formation, operation, or procedure exhibited in a given case:
9. a determining characteristic of something; essential quality.
10. an originating or actuating agency or force:
11. an actuating agency in the mind or character, as an instinct, faculty, or natural tendency:
12. Chemistry. a constituent of a substance, especially one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
13. Obsolete. beginning or commencement.

Idioms

1. in principle, in essence or substance; fundamentally:
2. on principle, according to personal rules for right conduct; as a matter of moral principle: according to a fixed rule, method, or practice:

Origin of Principle

1350-1400; Middle English, alteration of Middle French principe or Latin prīncipium, on the analogy of manciple. See principium

Examples for Principle

Let the record show that espousing principles is common; acting on principle is rare.

As respects our House of Representatives, it would in principle be the same.

But the qualities Mario Cuomo brought to public life—compassion, integrity, commitment to principle—remain in short supply today.

The principle involved in this effort is that of conservation.

If the noble experiment of American democracy is to mean anything, it is fidelity to the principle of freedom.

It was easily done, and without any cost or sacrifice of principle.

But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.

The duties were to be reduced and the system improved, but the principle was to be maintained.

The principle that outsiders should be welcomed and provided for was a cross-cultural theme in ancient cultures.

Nixon said defending the two islands was “a matter of principle.”