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Principal   /prˈɪnsəpəl/   Listen
adjective
Principal  adj.  
1.
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. "Wisdom is the principal thing."
2.
Of or pertaining to a prince; princely. (A Latinism) (Obs.)
Principal axis. See Axis of a curve, under Axis.
Principal axes of a quadric (Geom.), three lines in which the principal planes of the solid intersect two and two, as in an ellipsoid.
Principal challenge. (Law) See under Challenge.
Principal plane. See Plane of projection (a), under Plane.
Principal of a quadric (Geom.), three planes each of which is at right angles to the other two, and bisects all chords of the quadric perpendicular to the plane, as in an ellipsoid.
Principal point (Persp.), the projection of the point of sight upon the plane of projection.
Principal ray (Persp.), the line drawn through the point of sight perpendicular to the perspective plane.
Principal section (Crystallog.), a plane passing through the optical axis of a crystal.


noun
Principal  n.  
1.
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.
2.
Hence: (Law)
(a)
The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, as distinguished from an accessory.
(b)
A chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, as distinguished from a surety.
(c)
One who employs another to act for him, as distinguished from an agent.
3.
A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous. Specifically:
(a)
(Com.) A capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; so called in distinction from interest or profit.
(b)
(Arch. & Engin.) The construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.
(c)
(Mus.) In English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason.
(d)
(O. Eng. Law) A heirloom; a mortuary.
(e)
pl. The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing.
(f)
One of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned.
(g)
A principal or essential point or rule; a principle. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Principal" Quotes from Famous Books



... Kazan was, three days after his appointment, found one night riotously drunk in one of the principal streets in the city, and, as he was wearing ordinary clothes, was arrested by the police, who did not recognise him, so that the precious prelate spent the night in a cell! Such was our dear Russia in the midst of her valiant struggle ...
— The Minister of Evil - The Secret History of Rasputin's Betrayal of Russia • William Le Queux
... familiar to you, dear Jason, it is right, when I put the evidence before you, that you should know and guard against what to expect; and in any trial at law to prove the identity of Vincent Braddell, Jane Prior must be a principal witness, and will certainly not spare poor Mrs. Braddell. For the main point, however,—namely, the suspicion of poisoning her husband,—the inquest and verdict may ...
— Lucretia, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... of bawling against those in place; 'and so,' he added, 'by means of these parties, and the hubbub which the Papists and other smaller sects are making, a general emancipation will be carried, and the Church of England humbled, which is the principal thing which the See ...
— Lavengro - The Scholar, The Gypsy, The Priest • George Borrow
... the frankness of the author's note, which he said was unusual. Also the terms, which were not generally considered, few manuscripts being purchased outright by the firm. However, the book was more than favourably reported by two of the three principal readers and by the senior member of the house, and they were prepared to make an offer in the shape of the enclosed check which it was hoped would ...
— The High Calling • Charles M. Sheldon
... think the farther he gets from you the better you will be. The shells scattered the poor inhabitants of Petersburg so that many of the churches are closed. Indeed, they have been visited by the enemy's shells. Mr. Platt, pastor of the principal Episcopal church, had services at my headquarters to-day. The services were under the trees, and the discourse on ...
— Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee • Captain Robert E. Lee, His Son


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