principle
an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: a person of good moral principles.
a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived: the principles of modern physics.
a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion: the principles of the Stoics.
principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management: to adhere to one's principles; a kindergarten run on modern principles.
guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct: a person of principle.
an adopted rule or method for application in action: a working principle for general use.
a rule or law exemplified in natural phenomena, the construction or operation of a machine, the working of a system, or the like: the principle of capillary attraction.
the method of formation, operation, or procedure exhibited in a given case: a community organized on the patriarchal principle.
a determining characteristic of something; essential quality.
an originating or actuating agency or force: growth is the principle of life.
an actuating agency in the mind or character, as an instinct, faculty, or natural tendency: the principles of human behavior.
Chemistry. a constituent of a substance, especially one giving to it some distinctive quality or effect.
Obsolete. beginning or commencement.
Idioms about principle
in principle, in essence or substance; fundamentally: to accept a plan in principle.
on principle,
according to personal rules for right conduct; as a matter of moral principle: He refused on principle to agree to the terms of the treaty.
according to a fixed rule, method, or practice: He drank hot milk every night on principle.
Origin of principle
1synonym study For principle
confusables note For principle
Other words for principle
Words that may be confused with principle
Words Nearby principle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use principle in a sentence
Overall, many of the principles Barr put forward are unobjectionable in general.
Generally speaking, they do this by creating guidelines and principles for developers, funders, and regulators to follow.
AI ethics groups are repeating one of society’s classic mistakes | Amy Nordrum | September 14, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewYou write all human languages are unified by a simple principle.
Talking Is Throwing Fictional Worlds at One Another - Issue 89: The Dark Side | Kevin Berger | September 9, 2020 | NautilusThis means that, in principle, an algorithm might learn to represent the meaning of words simply from their distributions in a large amount of text.
Welcome to the Next Level of Bullshit - Issue 89: The Dark Side | Raphaël Millière | September 9, 2020 | NautilusAbouheif thinks that what is happening in carpenter ants may illustrate a broader principle involving symbioses and evolution.
How Two Became One: Origins of a Mysterious Symbiosis Found | Viviane Callier | September 9, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
But the qualities Mario Cuomo brought to public life—compassion, integrity, commitment to principle—remain in short supply today.
Nixon said defending the two islands was “a matter of principle.”
If the noble experiment of American democracy is to mean anything, it is fidelity to the principle of freedom.
The Sony Hack and America’s Craven Capitulation To Terror | David Keyes | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLet the record show that espousing principles is common; acting on principle is rare.
The principle that outsiders should be welcomed and provided for was a cross-cultural theme in ancient cultures.
Pope Bids Refugees to EU ‘Bienvenido’; Europe Says ‘Non’ | Candida Moss | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMany so-called "humming tones" are given for practice, but in accepting them observe whether the foregoing principle is obeyed.
Expressive Voice Culture | Jessie Eldridge SouthwickThe grand thing is to have each of your five fingers go "dum, dum," an equal number of times, which is the principle of all three!
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayHe had hitherto lived for universal man:—his days should terminate on a different principle.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterThe gauge of railways in Great Britain was not fixed upon any scientific principle.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowI have erected above 100 steam-engines on this principle, but never met with one accident or complaint against them.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
British Dictionary definitions for principle (1 of 2)
/ (ˈprɪnsɪpəl) /
a standard or rule of personal conduct: a man of principle
(often plural) a set of such moral rules: he'd stoop to anything; he has no principles
adherence to such a moral code; morality: it's not the money but the principle of the thing; torn between principle and expediency
a fundamental or general truth or law: first principles
the essence of something: the male principle
a source or fundamental cause; origin: principle of life
a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the behaviour of a system: the principle of the conservation of mass
an underlying or guiding theory or belief: the hereditary principle; socialist principles
chem a constituent of a substance that gives the substance its characteristics and behaviour: bitter principle
in principle in theory or essence
on principle because of or in demonstration of a principle
Origin of principle
1usage For principle
British Dictionary definitions for Principle (2 of 2)
/ (ˈprɪnsɪpəl) /
Christian Science another word for God
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with principle
see in principle; on principle.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse