Definitions for principal
ˈprɪn sə pəlprin·ci·pal

Princeton's WordNet(3.57 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. principalnoun

   the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

2. principal, school principal, head teacher, headnoun

   the educator who has executive authority for a school

   "she sent unruly pupils to see the principal"

3. star, principal, leadnoun

   an actor who plays a principal role

4. principal, corpus, principal sumnoun

   capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

5. principalnoun

   (criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement

6. principal, dealeradjective

   the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

7. chief(a), main(a), primary(a), principal(a), master(a)adjective

   most important element

   "the chief aim of living"; "the main doors were of solid glass"; "the principal rivers of America"; "the principal example"; "policemen were primary targets"; "the master bedroom"; "a master switch"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. principalnoun

   The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

   A portion of your mortgage payment goes to reduce the principal, and the rest covers interest.

   Etymology: From principalis.

2. principalnoun

   The chief administrator of a school.

   Etymology: From principalis.

3. principalnoun

   The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.

   Etymology: From principalis.

4. principalnoun

   One who directs another (the agent) to act on oneu2032s behalf.

   When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the clientu2032s agent, to act on the clientu2032s behalf.

   Etymology: From principalis.

5. principalnoun

   The primary participant in a crime.

   Etymology: From principalis.

6. principalnoun

   A company represented by a salesperson.

   My principal sells metal shims.

   Etymology: From principalis.

7. principalnoun

   A partner or owner of a business.

   Etymology: From principalis.

8. principalnoun

   A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.

   Etymology: From principalis.

9. principaladjective

   Primary; most important.

   Etymology: From principalis.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Principaladjective

   highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

2. Principaladjective

   of or pertaining to a prince; princely

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

3. Principalnoun

   a leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; -- distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

4. Principalnoun

   the chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, -- as distinguished from an accessory

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

5. Principalnoun

   a chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, -- as distinguished from a surety

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

6. Principalnoun

   one who employs another to act for him, -- as distinguished from an agent

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

7. Principalnoun

   a thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

8. Principalnoun

   a capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; -- so called in distinction from interest or profit

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

9. Principalnoun

   the construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, -- generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing

   Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

10. Principalnoun

    in English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason

    Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

11. Principalnoun

    a heirloom; a mortuary

    Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

12. Principalnoun

    the first two long feathers of a hawk's wing

    Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

13. Principalnoun

    one of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned

    Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

14. Principalnoun

    a principal or essential point or rule; a principle

    Etymology: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Principal

   A principal in computer security is an entity that can be authenticated by a computer system or network. It is referred to as a security principal in Java and Microsoft literature. Principals can be individual people, computers, services, computational entities such as processes and threads, or any group of such things. They need to be identified and authenticated before they can be assigned rights and privileges over resources in the network. A principal typically has an associated identifier that allows it to be referenced for identification or assignment of properties and permissions.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Principal

   prin′si-pal, adj. taking the first place: highest in rank, character, or importance: chief.—n. a principal person or thing: a head, as of a school or college: one who takes a leading part: money on which interest is paid: (archit.) a main beam or timber: (law) the person who commits a crime, or one who aids and abets him in doing it: a person for whom another becomes surety, a person who, being sui juris, employs another to do an act which he is competent himself to do: (mus.) an organ-stop: (Shak.) the principal rafter.—n. Principal′ity, supreme power: the territory of a prince or the country which gives title to him: (B.) a prince: (obs.) a power: (pl.) an order of angels, the seventh in the hierarchy of Dionysius.—adv. Prin′cipally.—ns. Prin′cipalness, the state of being principal or chief; Prin′cipalship, position of a principal; Prin′cipate, primary: a principality, esp. the office of the ancient Roman emperors. [L. principalis.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. principal

   A person with the accurate and specific ability, experience, knowledge, skills, qualifications, training and expertise to manage, review and support an education facility, school or college and teachers or tutors where appropriate and their collective responsibilities and objectives.

   The principal of the school was a true leader and managed a united team to deliver for the shared prosperity of everyone.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 1, 2020  

2. principal

   An important element.

   The principal element of the computer is the main memory which has a primary function within the computer.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 1, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Actor
   • Capital
   • Criminal Law
   • Debt
   • Wrongdoer

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'principal' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2488

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'principal' in Nouns Frequency: #2743

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'principal' in Adjectives Frequency: #337

How to pronounce principal?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say principal in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of principal in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of principal in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of principal in a Sentence

1. Erika Wahl:

   I've been trusting Willow Creek principal and superintendent for the last several years to take care of my kids, I'm trusting Willow Creek principal and superintendent now.

2. Michael Silverton:

   We started building out our leveraged finance business six years ago from scratch, and it took us some time to build the relationships, in addition to our core advisory expertise, we have been working with clients across DCM, ECM and our principal transactions team, which has helped to solidify these relationships.

3. Principal Ronald Alexander:

   Of all the people in the whole world, I am the happiest principal on earth, i love you. We love you. I love you, again.

4. Bill Gross:

   Negative returns and principal losses in many asset categories are increasingly possible unless nominal growth rates reach acceptable levels, i don’t like bonds; I don’t like most stocks; I don’t like private equity. Real assets such as land, gold, and tangible plant and equipment at a discount are favored asset categories.

5. Francys Johnson:

   The NAACP would defend Mrs. Gordeuk's right as a private citizen to free speech, however, those entrusted with responsibility for our children must set a high standard marked by civility. That is obviously a test the former principal failed.

Images & Illustrations of principal

Popularity rank by frequency of use