principal

[prin-suh-puhl]

adjective

1. first or highest in rank, importance, value, etc.; chief; foremost.

   The principal problem is a lack of money.

   She's the principal advisor on the council.

   Synonyms: preeminent, cardinal, main, leading, paramount, prime
   Antonyms: ancillary, secondary

2. of, of the nature of, or constituting principal or capital.

   Though our portfolio has seen losses, the principal investment remains untouched.

3. Geometry.,  (of an axis of a conic) passing through the foci.

noun

1. a chief or head.

   Synonyms: leader

2. the head or director of a school or, especially in England, a college.

   Synonyms: master, dean, headmaster

3. a person who takes a leading part in any activity, as a play; chief actor or doer.

4. the first player of a division of instruments in an orchestra (excepting the leader of the first violins).

5. something of principal or chief importance.

6. Law.

   1. a person who authorizes someone else, such as an agent, to represent them.

   2. a person directly responsible for a crime, either as an actual perpetrator or as an abettor present at its commission.

7. a person primarily liable for an obligation, in contrast with an endorser, or the like.

8. the main body of an estate, or the like, as distinguished from income.

9. Finance.,  a capital sum, as distinguished from interest or profit.

10. Music.

    1. an organ stop.

    2. the subject of a fugue.

11. (in a framed structure) a member, as a truss, upon which adjacent or similar members depend for support or reinforcement.

12. each of the combatants in a duel, as distinguished from the seconds.

principal

/ ˈprɪnsɪpəl /

adjective

1. first in importance, rank, value, etc; chief

2. denoting or relating to capital or property as opposed to interest, etc

noun

1. a person who is first in importance or directs some event, action, organization, etc

2. (in Britain) a civil servant of an executive grade who is in charge of a section

3. law

   1. a person who engages another to act as his agent

   2. an active participant in a crime

   3. the person primarily liable to fulfil an obligation

4. the head of a school or other educational institution

5. (in Scottish schools) a head of department

6. finance

   1. capital or property, as contrasted with the income derived from it

   2. the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

7. a main roof truss or rafter

8. music

   1. the chief instrumentalist in a section of the orchestra

   2. one of the singers in an opera company

   3. either of two types of open diapason organ stops, one of four-foot length and pitch and the other of eight-foot length and pitch

9. the leading performer in a play

principal

1. The original amount of money lent, not including profits and interest.

Confusables Note

The noun principle and the noun and adjective principal are often confused. Although pronounced alike, the words are not interchangeable in writing. A principle is broadly “a rule of action or conduct” ( His overriding principle is greed ) or “a fundamental doctrine or tenet” ( Their principles do not permit the use of alcoholic beverages ). The adjective principal has the general sense “chief, first, foremost”: My principal objection is the cost of the project. The noun principal has among other meanings “the head or director of a school” ( The faculty supported the principal in her negotiations with the board ) and “a capital sum, as distinguished from interest or profit” ( The monthly payments go mostly for interest, leaving the principal practically untouched ).

Other Word Forms

• principalship noun
• underprincipal noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of principal¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin prīncipālis “first, chief,” equivalent to prīncip- ( prince ) + -ālis -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of principal¹

C13: via Old French from Latin principālis chief, from princeps chief man, _prince

Synonym Study

See capital ¹.

Example Sentences

The students then can text with the five virtual, AI-crafted characters—the superintendent, a principal, a bus driver and district finance and operations chiefs—that respond to users conversationally.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He shares that living sense of heritage that Wilson, who died in 2005, made the principal subject of his art.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In addition to no longer letting $5 billion a month of Treasury securities run off at maturity, it will reinvest principal payments on agency mortgage securities into T-bills.

Read more on Barron's

In addition to no longer letting $5 billion a month of Treasury securities run off at maturity, it will reinvest principal payments on agency mortgage securities into T-bills.

Read more on Barron's

Mr. Hedren is at his best when he relates the American Indian versions of the 1876 battles of the Rosebud and Little Big Horn, the two principal clashes of the Great Sioux War.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dominant 
• key 
• leading 
• main 
• major 
• outstanding 
• paramount 
• predominant 
• preeminent 
• primary 
• prime 
• prominent