PRINCIPLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does principle mean? 

• PRINCIPLE (noun)
  The noun PRINCIPLE has 6 senses:

1. a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct

2. a rule or standard especially of good behavior

3. a basic truth or law or assumption

4. a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system

5. rule of personal conduct

6. (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature)

  Familiarity information: PRINCIPLE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRINCIPLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

principle; rule

Context example:

their principles of composition characterized all their works

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

generalisation; generality; generalization (an idea or conclusion having general application)

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

pillar (a fundamental principle or practice)

yang (the bright positive masculine principle in Chinese dualistic cosmology)

yin (the dark negative feminine principle in Chinese dualistic cosmology)

feng shui (rules in Chinese philosophy that govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to patterns of yin and yang and the flow of energy (qi); the favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into consideration in designing and siting buildings and graves and furniture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A rule or standard especially of good behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he will not violate his principles

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

value (an ideal accepted by some individual or group)

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

accounting principle; accounting standard (a principle that governs current accounting practice and that is used as a reference to determine the appropriate treatment of complex transactions)

scruple (an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action)

judicial doctrine; judicial principle; legal principle ((law) a principle underlying the formulation of jurisprudence)

Hellenism (the principles and ideals associated with classical Greek civilization)

ethic; moral principle; value-system; value orientation (the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group)

chivalry; knightliness (the medieval principles governing knighthood and knightly conduct)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A basic truth or law or assumption

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

the principles of democracy

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

law; natural law (a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society)

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

dictate (a guiding principle)

basic principle; basics; bedrock; fundamental principle; fundamentals (principles from which other truths can be derived)

logic (the principles that guide reasoning within a given field or situation)

pleasure-pain principle; pleasure-unpleasure principle; pleasure principle ((psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the id; the principle that an infant seeks gratification and fails to distinguish fantasy from reality)

reality principle ((psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the ego; the principle that as a child grows it becomes aware of the real environment and the need to accommodate to it)

insurrectionism (the principle of revolt against constituted authority)

conservation ((physics) the maintenance of a certain quantities unchanged during chemical reactions or physical transformations)

Tao (the ultimate principle of the universe)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

principle; rule

Context example:

the right-hand rule for inductive fields

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

law; law of nature (a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature)

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

principle of superposition; superposition; superposition principle ((geology) the principle that in a series of stratified sedimentary rocks the lowest stratum is the oldest)

localisation; localisation of function; localisation principle; localization; localization of function; localization principle ((physiology) the principle that specific functions have relatively circumscribed locations in some particular part or organ of the body)

mass-action principle; mass action ((neurology) the principle that the cortex of the brain operates as a coordinated system with large masses of neural tissue involved in all complex functioning)

Huygens' principle of superposition; principle of superposition (the displacement of any point due to the superposition of wave systems is equal to the sum of the displacements of the individual waves at that point)

principle of liquid displacement ((hydrostatics) the volume of a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the volume of the displaced fluid)

principle of equivalence ((physics) the principle that an observer has no way of distinguishing whether his laboratory is in a uniform gravitational field or is in an accelerated frame of reference)

Naegele's rule (rule for calculating an expected delivery date; subtract three months from the first day of the last menstrual period and add seven days to that date)

mass-energy equivalence ((physics) the principle that a measured quantity of mass is equivalent (according to relativity theory) to a measured quantity of energy)

Gresham's Law ((economics) the principle that when two kinds of money having the same denominational value are in circulation the intrinsically more valuable money will be hoarded and the money of lower intrinsic value will circulate more freely until the intrinsically more valuable money is driven out of circulation; bad money drives out good; credited to Sir Thomas Gresham)

Le Chatelier's law; Le Chatelier's principle; Le Chatelier-Braun principle; Le Chatelier principle (the principle that if any change is imposed on a system that is in equilibrium then the system tends to adjust to a new equilibrium counteracting the change)

Gestalt law of organization; Gestalt principle of organization (a principle of Gestalt psychology that identifies factors leading to particular forms of perceptual organization)

law of parsimony; Occam's Razor; Ockham's Razor; principle of parsimony (the principle that entities should not be multiplied needlessly; the simplest of two competing theories is to be preferred)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Rule of personal conduct

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

precept; principle

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

prescript; rule (prescribed guide for conduct or action)

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

higher law (a principle that takes precedent over the laws of society)

moral principle (the principle that conduct should be moral)

hypothetical imperative (a principle stating the action required to attain a desired goal)

caveat emptor (a commercial principle that without a warranty the buyer takes upon himself the risk of quality)

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

ethic; ethical code (a system of principles governing morality and acceptable conduct)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

principle; rationale

Context example:

the principles of internal-combustion engines

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

explanation (thought that makes something comprehensible)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

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

dialectics (a rationale for dialectical materialism based on change through the conflict of opposing forces)

 Context examples 

It is based on the principle that if a good behavior is rewarded, it is more likely to be repeated.

(Contingency management, NCI Dictionary)

Collagen Genes encode different forms of Collagen, the principle fibrous protein of connective tissue, all consisting of triple helix alpha-polypeptide chains.

(Collagen Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

The principle was good in itself, but it may have been, and I believe has been, carried too far in your case.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The principle that a relationship exists between a primary entity A, or cause, and the occurrence of a secondary entity B, or effect.

(Causality, NCI Thesaurus)

The application of engineering and mathematical principles to electrical problems

(Electrical Engineering, NCI Thesaurus)

It was a matter of principle and conscience.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He considered it the principle of a gentleman to take things as he found them; and he had no doubt the Prerogative Office would last our time.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The principle of functional MRI imaging is to take a series of images of an organ in quick succession and to statistically analyze the images for differences among them.

(Functional magnetic resonance imaging, NCI Thesaurus)

A single undivided thing (unit) based on or subject to individual judgment or preference, and not by necessity, reason, or principle.

(Arbitrary Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

Its active principle consists of 4 pentacyclic triterpenes, beta-boswellic acid being the major one.

(Boswellia serrata, NCI Thesaurus)