Principle

| ˈprɪnsɪp(ə)l |

Definition

• noun
  • a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning
    • (usu. ‘principles’) a rule or belief governing one’s behavior
    • [mass noun] morally correct behavior and attitudes
  • a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field
    • a natural law forming the basis for the construction or working of a machine
  • a fundamental source or basis of sth.
    • a fundamental quality determining the nature of sth.
    • [with adj.] (Chemistry) an active or characteristic constituent of a substance, obtained by simple analysis or separation

Etymology

Late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin principium (“source”), principia (plural, “foundations”), from princeps, princip- (“first”, “chief”)

In Other Languages

• Bahasa Indonesia: princip, asas, dasar
• بهاس ملايو:
  • ڤرينچيڤ (princip), داسر (dasar)
• Cebuano: baruganan
• Deutsch:
  • das Prinzip
  • der Grundsatz (theorem)
• Español: el principio
• Filipino: simulain, tuntunin
• Français: le principe
• 한국어: 원칙 (wonchig)
• Italiano: il principio
• ភាសាខ្មែរ: គោលការណ៍ (kolkar)
• Latino: principium
• မြန်မာဘာသာ: အခြေခံမူ, နိယာမ
• 日本語: 原則 (げんそく), 原理 (げんり)
• ພາສາລາວ: ຫຼັກການ (rakkan)
• ภาษาไทย: หลัก (H̄lạk)
• தமிழ்: கொள்கை (koḷkai)
• Tiếng Việt: nguyên tắc
• 中文: 原則 / 原则 (yuánzé), 原理 (yuánlǐ)