first principle

noun

1. any axiom, law, or abstraction assumed and regarded as representing the highest possible degree of generalization.

first principle

noun

1. one of the fundamental assumptions on which a particular theory or procedure is thought to be based
2. an axiom of a mathematical or scientific theory

Example Sentences

"Moving forward, we need to design and optimize materials with sustainability metrics as a first principle."

From Science Daily

It needed a reminder that a first principle of the republic — equality — was rotting.

From Seattle Times

The court should have reverted to this first principle in the disqualification case.

From Salon

Indeed, she granted Trump’s unprecedented request on the astonishing basis that “the investigation and treatment of a former president is … unique … ,” thereby saying the quiet part out loud by defying the first principle of a society based on the rule of law: No one, not even the most powerful person, is above the law.

From Slate

And so the extraordinary success of “Schindler’s List,” arriving some eight years after “Shoah,” was as much a violation of Lanzmann’s first principle as it was a rewriting of conventional Hollywood wisdom about what a movie could and could not show.

From Los Angeles Times