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principle
principle definition
prin·ci·ple (prin′sə pəl)
noun
- the ultimate source, origin, or cause of something
- a natural or original tendency, faculty, or endowment
- a fundamental truth, law, doctrine, or motivating force, upon which others are based moral principles
- a rule of conduct, esp. of right conduct
- such rules collectively
- adherence to them; integrity; uprightness a man of principle
- an essential element, constituent, or quality, esp. one that produces a specific effect the active principle of a medicine
- the scientific law that explains a natural action the principle of cell division
- the method of a thing's operation the principle of a gasoline engine is internal combustion
Etymology: ME, altered < MFr principe < L principium: see principium
principle Idioms
in principle
theoretically or in essence
on principle
because of or according to a principle
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