<B>princely, </B>adjective, <B>-lier,</B> <B>-liest,</B> adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of a prince or his rank; royal. <BR> <I>Ex. princely power, the princely families of Europe.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>like a prince; noble; stately. <BR> <I>Ex. a princely manner.</I> (SYN) courtly. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) fit for a prince. <BR> <I>Ex. Some presidents of businesses earn princely salaries.</I> (SYN) magnificent, sumptuous. <DD><I>adv. </I> in the manner of a prince; royally. </DL>
<A NAME="princeofdarkness">
<B>Prince of Darkness,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Devil; Satan. </DL>
<A NAME="princeofpeace">
<B>Prince of Peace,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Jesus Christ. </DL>
<A NAME="princeofwales">
<B>Prince of Wales,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the title conferred on the eldest son, or heir apparent, of the British sovereign. </DL>
<A NAME="princeps">
<B>princeps, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cipes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>among the ancient Romans: <DD><B> a. </B>a title for a civil or military official. <DD><B> b. </B>the title under which Augustus Caesar and his successors ruled the Roman Empire. <DD><B> 2. </B>a chief or lord among the ancient Teutons, generally corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon alderman. </DL>
<A NAME="princeregent">
<B>prince regent,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a prince who acts as the regent of a country. </DL>
<A NAME="princeroyal">
<B>prince royal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the oldest son of a king or queen. </DL>
<B>prince's-feather, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a tall, handsome annual garden plant of the amaranth family with thick, feathery red spikes. </DL>
<A NAME="princeship">
<B>princeship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the position, rank, or dignity of a prince. <DD><B> 2. </B>the rule of a prince. </DL>
<A NAME="princesmetal">
<B>Prince's metal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an alloy of about three parts of copper and one of zinc, resembling gold in color and once used in cheap jewelry. </DL>
<A NAME="princess">
<B>princess, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a daughter of a king or queen; daughter of a king's or queen's son. <DD><B> 2. </B>the wife or widow of a prince. <DD><B> 3. </B>a woman having the rank of a prince. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=princesse.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="princesse">
<B>princesse, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> one-piece and close-fitting with a flaring skirt and vertical seams. <BR> <I>Ex. a princesse coat. Her dress was white linen, cut princesse over the hips, long and full-skirted (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="princessly">
<B>princessly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, like, or befitting a princess. <BR> <I>Ex. She is handsome ... and her manners are princessly (Byron).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="princessmarble">
<B>princess marble,</B> <B>=sodalite.</B></DL>
<A NAME="princessroyal">
<B>Princess Royal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the title conferred on the oldest daughter of the British sovereign. </DL>
<A NAME="princesstree">
<B>princess tree,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a Chinese tree of medium height, with downy leaves and fragrant violet flowers, which has become naturalized in the eastern coastal United States. </DL>
<A NAME="principal">
<B>principal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> most important; chief; main. <BR> <I>Ex. Chicago is the principal city of Illinois.</I> (SYN) cardinal, foremost, prime, leading, prominent. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the chief person; one who gives orders. <BR> <I>Ex. She is one of the principals of the Royal Ballet (Maclean's).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>the head, or one of the heads, of an elementary or secondary school. <BR> <I>Ex. The principal told the teachers to dismiss school during the heavy snowstorm.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the head of a college, especially in Great Britain. <DD><B> 3. </B>a sum of money on which interest is paid. <DD><B> 4. </B>money or property from which income or interest is received. <DD><B> 5. </B>a person who hires or authorizes another person to act for him. <BR> <I>Ex. Mr. Smith does the business of renting the houses for Mr. Jones, his principal.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a person directly responsible for a crime. <DD><B> 7. </B>a person responsible for the payment of a debt that another person has endorsed. <DD><B> 8. </B>(Music.) an organ stop whose tones are of the same quality as the open diapason but an octave higher. <DD><B> 9. </B>anything of chief importance, such as a main truss or rafter in a building. <BR> <I>Ex. Our lodgings ... Shook as the earth did quake; the very principals did seem to rend, And all to topple (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>each of the combatants in a duel. </DL>
<A NAME="principalboy">
<B>principal boy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a female player who takes the leading male part in a pantomime. </DL>
<A NAME="principality">
<B>principality, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small state or country ruled by a prince. <BR> <I>Ex. In that province [Normandy] they found a mighty state, which gradually extended its influence over the neighbouring principalities of Brittany and Maine (Macaulay).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the country from which a prince gets his title. <DD><B> 3. </B>supreme power. <BR> <I>Ex. Josephus ... calls the Commonwealth of the Hebrews a Theocracy, because the principality was in God only (Milton).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>chief place or rank. <BR> <I>Ex. Christ hath the primacy of order and the principality of influence (Thomas Manton).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>principalities,</B> </I>the order of angels next above the powers. <BR> <I>Ex. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (Ephesians 6:12).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="principally">
<B>principally, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> for the most part; above all; chiefly. <BR> <I>Ex. What I principally insist on, is due execution (Jonathan Swift).</I> (SYN) mainly. </DL>
<A NAME="principalparts">
<B>principal parts,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the main parts of the verb or a set of verb forms from which all the other forms of the verb can be derived. In Modern English the principal parts are the infinitive, past tense or preterit, and past participle. (Examples:) go, went, gone; do, did, done; drive, drove, driven; push, pushed, pushed. </DL>
<A NAME="principalship">
<B>principalship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the position or office of a principal. </DL>
<A NAME="principate">
<B>principate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a chief place or authority. <BR> <I>Ex. Under two metaphors the principate of the whole church was promised (Isaac Barrow).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=principality.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>the period of the ancient Roman Empire when Augustus and his successors ruled as republican heads of the Senate. </DL>
<A NAME="principe">
<B>principe, </B>noun, pl. (Italian) <B>-pi;</B> (Spanish) <B>-pes;</B> (Portuguese) <B>-pes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese.) a prince. </DL>
<A NAME="principia">
<B>principia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>principium.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="principium">
<B>principium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a principle, especially a first principle or element. </DL>
<A NAME="principle">
<B>principle, </B>noun, verb, <B>-pled,</B> <B>-pling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a truth that is a foundation for other truths; fundamental, primary, or general truth. <BR> <I>Ex. the principles of democratic government.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a fundamental belief. <BR> <I>Ex. religious principles.</I> (SYN) tenet. <DD><B> 3. </B>a rule of action or conduct. <BR> <I>Ex. I make it a principle to save some money each week.</I> (SYN) precept. <DD><B> 4. </B>uprightness; honor. <BR> <I>Ex. Washington was a man of principle. Not only was it right as a matter of principle to bring the question ... out into the open, they said; it also was good politics (Newsweek).</I> (SYN) integrity. <DD><B> 5. </B>a rule of science explaining how something works. <BR> <I>Ex. the principle of the lever, the principle by which a machine acts. A jet engine is based on a principle known since ancient times.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>the method of operation, as of a machine. <DD><B> 7. </B>a first cause or force; source; origin. <BR> <I>Ex. Thales said that the first principle of all things was water (John Stuart Blackie).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>one of the elements that compose a substance, especially one that gives some special quality or effect. <BR> <I>Ex. the bitter principle in a drug.</I> (SYN) constituent, ingredient, component. <DD><B> 9. </B>an original tendency or faculty; natural or innate disposition. <DD><B> 10. </B><B>Principle.</B> God (in the belief of Christian Scientists). <DD><I>v.t. </I> (Obsolete.) to teach the basic facts of a subject; impress; indoctrinate. <BR><I>expr. <B>in principle,</B> </I>as regards the general truth or rule. <BR> <I>Ex. to approve something in principle.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>on principle,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>according to a certain principle. </I> <I>Ex. There was a time when I could not read Pope, but disliked him on principle (James Russell Lowell).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>for reasons of right conduct. <BR> <I>Ex. Outward acts, done on principle, create inward habits (Cardinal Newman).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="principled">
<B>principled, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having principles; that is so or such on principle. <BR> <I>Ex. She was firm and very principled.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="principled">
<B>-principled,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) having a ______ principle or principles. <BR> <I>Ex. High-principled = having high principles.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="principleofrelativity">
<B>principle of relativity,</B> <B>=relativity </B>(def. 4).</DL>
<A NAME="princock">
<B>princock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) a pert or conceited young fellow. </DL>
<B>prink, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to dress for show; decorate. <BR> <I>Ex. A sixteen-storey tower packed with families and nattily prinked out in rectangles of daffodil and grey (Punch).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to fuss about appearance. noun <B>prinker.</B> </DL>
