prince

Pluralprinces

Formsprinces, princing, princed

1. 1
   royal familynouncountable

   A male member of a royal family who is not the ruler, especially the son or grandson of a king or queen.

   The prince accompanied the queen on her official visit to Canada.

   Several princes of the royal house served in the armed forces.

2. 2
   small country rulernouncountable

   The male ruler or sovereign head of a principality, a small state ranking below a kingdom.

   The prince of the small Alpine state signed a treaty with his neighbors.

   A prince rules the tiny principality from his palace above the harbor.

   UsageCapitalized before a name (Prince Rainier), usually lowercase on its own: the prince of Monaco.

   Similarsovereign, ruler, monarch

   Note

   The general "king" meaning has faded into history, but this one is still current. A principality's head of state carries the title in present-day reporting: The Guardian in 2011 writes of Prince Rainier of Monaco and of his son as "the prince." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • A 2011 Guardian article mentions Prince Rainier of Monaco and calls his son “the prince.” theguardian.com
3. 3
   nounarchaichistorical

   A sovereign ruler of a realm; a king or monarch holding supreme power, now chiefly in historical and political writing (formerly also used of a queen reigning in her own right).

   If Henry does not fully trust him, is it surprising? A prince is alone: in his council chamber, in his bedchamber, and finally in Hell's antechamber, stripped – as Harry Percy said – for Judgment.

   2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

   Note

   Today this use lives mainly in historical and political writing. Diarmaid MacCulloch calls Henry VIII and François I princes, meaning reigning kings, not a king's son. Read older texts the same way: Florio's Montaigne pities "our Princes" as kings.

4. 4
   noble (not royal)nouncountable

   A high title of nobility that is not royal, used especially in France and the Holy Roman Empire.

   The prince ruled his estates almost independently of the crown.

   Wealthy princes of the Holy Roman Empire often acted as rulers in their own right.

   Note

   Here the word is a rank rather than a tie to a throne. Capitalized before a name, as in Prince Louis de Broglie, who won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physics, it marks a place among the high nobility, not descent from a monarch. A reader meeting such a name should not look for a crown nearby. That connection belongs to a king's son or grandson. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Louis de Broglie bore the title Prince and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1929. nobelprize.org
   • The princely title in the Broglie family was a noble dignity granted by the Holy Roman Emperor, rather than a designation of royal descent. en.wikipedia.org
5. 5
   outstanding onenouncountable

   A person who is preeminent or outstanding in a particular field; a truly great individual.

   Among jazz musicians of his era, he was regarded as a prince of the trumpet.

   She praised him as a prince of letters whose essays shaped a generation.

   UsageUsually a prince among a group (a prince among men) or a prince of a field (a prince of letters).

   Similarmaster, giant, king, titan, luminary

   Note

   Praise of this kind usually comes in a fixed frame: a prince among men. F. A. Hayek adapts it in 1949, calling the philosopher "a sort of prince among the intellectuals". The phrase is hedged, but the ranking metaphor is the same. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Hayek's essay containing the quotation was published in 1949. chicagounbound.uchicago.edu
   • Hayek describes the philosopher generally as "a sort of prince among the intellectuals"; the quotation is exact. fee.org

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