principally, adv.
(ˈprɪnsɪpəlɪ)
[f. principal a. + -ly2.]
1. In the chief place; as the chief thing concerned; chiefly, mainly, above all.
| 1340 Ayenb. 26 Þo byeþ fole ypocrites, þet..doþ manie penonces,..principalliche, uor þe los [= fame] of þe wordle. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xxi. (1495) d vij/2 His wytte [sc. of gropyng]..is pryncypally in þe palme of þe hondes and in soles of þe fete. c 1440 Gesta Rom. li. 229 (Add. MS.) Pryncipally and before all thyng he oweth to take a way toward his owne countre. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Principalement, chiefly, especially, principally. 1624 Dk. Buckhm. in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 180 For manie waightie considerations, but principally this. 1677 Dryden Apol. Heroic Poetry & Ess. (Ker) I. 179 They wholly mistake the nature of criticism, who think its business is principally to find fault. a 1745 Swift (J.), What I principally insist on, is due execution. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest iii. §41 My steady habit of always looking for the subject principally, and for the art only as the means of expressing it. |
† b. In the way of main division; primarily. Obs.
| 1340 Ayenb. 50 Þeruore him to-delþ þe ilke zenne in tuo deles principalliche. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 433 Alle mans lyfe casten may be, Principaly, in þis partes thre..Bygynnyng, midward, and endyng. |
† c. In the first place; in the first instance; originally, primarily, fundamentally; at first. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 91 His lore is not his, for it is not principali his, but it is Goddis þat sent him. c 1425 Cursor M. 880 (Trin.) Of þis gult here Is she to wite þat is my fere..For principaly she bed hit me. a 1552 Leland Itin. I. 8 Ruines of a very large Hermitage and principally well buildid but a late discoverid and suppressid. |
† 2. In a special or marked degree; above or beyond the rest, above all; especially. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 194 Of pompe and of pruyde þe parchemyn decorreth, And principaliche of alle peple but þei be pore of herte. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 184 If þou wolt worche more stronglich.., and principaly if he be a riche man. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 121 Whan she sawe theym so blacke and soo hidous, and pryncypally Reynawde. 1560 tr. Fisher's Godlye Treat. Prayer D vj b, There be three sortes of fruites principallye growyng vnto man by prayer. 1647 J. Saltmarsh Sparkles Glory (1847) 89 To administer Peace and Judgment to the world..and more principally to his people in the flesh. |
3. For the most part; in most cases; in the main; mostly.
| 1832 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. (ed. 2) 331 Camerated shells..have been principally discovered in these rocks of central Italy. 1845 M{supc}Culloch Taxation ii. xii. (1852) 388 Those who subsist wholly or principally on incomes derived from the state or from taxes. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. vii. (1870) 268 The astronomer, to make observations on his sphere of observation merely, makes use principally either of a sextant or an altazimuth. |