# principal

Pronunciation: US/AUS say "PRIN-si-puhl" /ˈpɹɪnsɪpəl/; UK

## Adjective

1. Most important or main; ranking first among a group of things.
   - Simple: Main or most important, coming before all others.
   - _The principal cause of the delay was bad weather over the mountains._
   - _Education was the principal aim of the new government policy._

## Noun

2. The person who heads and manages a school, college, or university.
   - Simple: The person in charge of a school, college, or university.
   - _The principal suspended two students after the fight in the cafeteria._
   - _Parents met with the principal to discuss the new bell schedule._
3. The original sum of money invested or loaned, used as the base for calculating interest and returns.
   - Simple: The first amount of money you invest or borrow, before any interest.
   - _The loan's principal was fifty thousand dollars, with interest added each month._
   - _By overpaying every month, they reduced the principal far faster than scheduled._
4. A person who owns or is a partner in a business. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: An owner or main partner in a business.
   - _As a principal of the firm, she signed the contract herself._
   - _Both principals agreed to reinvest the year's earnings into new equipment._
5. A person who authorizes another, the agent, to act on their behalf.
   - Simple: A person who gives someone else the power to act for them.
   - _The principal instructed the agent to accept no offer below market value._
   - _An agent must always act in the principal's best interest._
6. A leading performer, such as an actor in a main role, a dancer of the highest rank in a ballet company, or the leading player of an orchestra section.
   - Simple: One of the most important performers in a play, film, ballet, opera, or orchestra.
   - _The director cast a newcomer as a principal, with seasoned actors filling the smaller roles._
   - _Both principals received a standing ovation after the finale._
8. The main participant who actually carries out a crime.
   - Simple: The main person who commits a crime.
   - _The jury found her guilty as the principal in the assault._
   - _Two principals planned and executed the heist together._
9. Either of the two people who actually fight in a duel, as distinct from their seconds or attendants.
   - Simple: One of the two people who actually fight each other in a duel.
   - _The two principals took their positions twelve paces apart._
   - _As the challenged party, the principal had the right to choose weapons._

## Noun

7. An essential point or basic rule; a fundamental principle. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A basic rule or important point.

## Adjective

10. Relating to a prince, or characteristic of one; princely. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Having to do with a prince, or like a prince.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In computer security, an entity such as a user, device, or program that can be identified, verified, and granted specific access rights.
- (adjective) Selected from among the several values of a multi-valued function so that the function returns a single, definite value.
- (noun) A type of organ stop made up of flue pipes with a bright tone, also known as a diapason.
- (noun) The framework, usually a truss of timber or iron, that gives a roof its shape and strength; more loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.
- (noun) In falconry, either of the first two long flight feathers at the tip of a hawk's wing.
- (noun) One of the turrets or pinnacles of wax and lit tapers that formerly crowned the posts and center of a funeral hearse.

## Origin

Latin prīncipālis passed into Old French as principal and from there into Middle English with the same spelling.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/principal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).