English Dictionary

PRINCIPAL

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does principal mean? 

PRINCIPAL (noun)
  The noun PRINCIPAL has 6 senses:

1. the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculatedplay

2. the educator who has executive authority for a schoolplay

3. an actor who plays a principal roleplay

4. capital as contrasted with the income derived from itplay

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

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

  Familiarity information: PRINCIPAL used as a noun is common.


PRINCIPAL (adjective)
  The adjective PRINCIPAL has 1 sense:

1. most important elementplay

  Familiarity information: PRINCIPAL used as an adjective is very rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


PRINCIPAL (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

The original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):

debt (money or goods or services owed by one person to another)

Holonyms ("principal" is a part of...):

loan (the temporary provision of money (usually at interest))


Sense 2

Meaning:

The educator who has executive authority for a school

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

head; head teacher; principal; school principal

Context example:

she sent unruly pupils to see the principal

Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):

educator; pedagog; pedagogue (someone who educates young people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):

chancellor (the honorary or titular head of a university)

headmaster; master; schoolmaster (presiding officer of a school)

headmistress (a woman headmaster)

Derivation:

principalship (the post of principal)


Sense 3

Meaning:

An actor who plays a principal role

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

lead; principal; star

Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):

actor; histrion; player; role player; thespian (a theatrical performer)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):

co-star (one of two actors who are given equal status as stars in a play or film)

film star; movie star (a star who plays leading roles in the cinema)

idol; matinee idol (someone who is adored blindly and excessively)

television star; TV star (a star in a television show)


Sense 4

Meaning:

Capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

corpus; principal; principal sum

Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):

capital (wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value)


Sense 5

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):

offender; wrongdoer (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)

Domain category:

criminal law (the body of law dealing with crimes and their punishment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):

criminal; crook; felon; malefactor; outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)


Sense 6

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dealer; principal

Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):

financier; moneyman (a person skilled in large scale financial transactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):

broker-dealer (a financial specialist who trades for his own account and so acts both as a broker and principal)


PRINCIPAL (adjective)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Most important element

Synonyms:

chief; main; master; primary; principal

Context example:

a master switch

Similar:

important; of import (of great significance or value)


 Context examples 


A tall tree was thus the principal mark.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

In mammals, the JAK/STAT pathway is the principal signaling mechanism for a wide array of cytokines and growth factors.

(Jak-STAT Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

The principal activity that a person does to earn money.

(Occupation, NCI Thesaurus)

One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my liberty, Reldresal, principal secretary (as they style him) for private affairs, came to my house attended only by one servant.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It is impossible for you to diminish your principal.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research.

(National Cancer Institute, NCI Thesaurus)

A broad class of substances, principally from mineral sources of non-biological origin, encompassing all those that do not include carbon and its derivatives as their principal elements.

(Inorganic Chemical, NCI Thesaurus)

She is his principal correspondent, I assure you.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The principals being all agreed in this respect, it soon appeared that a very few weeks would be sufficient for such arrangements as must precede the wedding.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Miss Elliot, surrounded by her cousins, and the principal object of Colonel Wallis's gallantry, was quite contented.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Why have a dog and bark yourself?" (English proverb)

"If a child does not cry, his mother will not breast feed him." (Albanian proverb)

"While they read the Bible to the wolf, it says: hurry up, my flock left." (Armenian proverb)

"If a caged bird isn't singing for love, it's singing in a rage." (Corsican proverb)



ALSO IN ENGLISH DICTIONARY:


© 2000-2024 AudioEnglish.org | AudioEnglish® is a Registered Trademark | Terms of use and privacy policy
Contact