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principle
[ prin-suh-puhl ]
noun
- 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.
Synonyms: , , ,
- 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.
Synonyms: , , ,
- 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.
Principle
1/ ˈɪԲɪə /
noun
- Christian Science another word for God
principle
2/ ˈɪԲɪə /
noun
- a standard or rule of personal conduct
a man of principle
- often plural a set of such moral rules
he has no principles
he'd stoop to anything
- adherence to such a moral code; morality
torn between principle and expediency
it's not the money but the principle of the thing
- 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
socialist principles
the hereditary principle
- chem a constituent of a substance that gives the substance its characteristics and behaviour
bitter principle
- in principlein theory or essence
- on principlebecause of or in demonstration of a principle
Usage
Confusables Note
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of principle1
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of principle1
Idioms and Phrases
- 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.
More idioms and phrases containing principle
see in principle ; on principle .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
In principle, many Republican lawmakers support the administration’s actions as a long-overdue effort to streamline government.
The result of her research was a set of nine principles that organisers could commit to in order to make their events more inclusive for women.
He embraced positional principles not because of ideology, but because they offered greater control, clarity and consistency - even without elite-level players.
While Trump has been at the centre of this push, one of his principle agents of chaos is a man who wasn't born in the US, but who built a business empire there.
The resource bargain is really the principle of the black box tuned into an active method of management.
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Related 51Թs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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