▪ I. principle, n.
(ˈprɪnsɪp(ə)l)
Also 4–6 with y for i; 6 pryncypull.
[ad. F. principe (Oresme c 1380), or f. L. principium (see above); formed on the analogy of manciple, participle, L. mancipium, participium, there being app. in this case no OF. form in -ple.]
In various senses often emphasized by prefixing first.
I. Origin, source; source of action.
† 1. Beginning, rise, commencement; fountainhead; original or initial state. (Also in pl.)
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 209 Knyghthood in Grece and Troye the Cité Took hys principlys, and next in Rome toun. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 105 The begynnenges of that water callede Tiberiades, and of the water off Iordan, whiche haue their originalle principle at the foote of the mownte callede Libanus. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 9 Reason vsing sense, taketh his principles and fyrst sedes of thinges sensyble. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xi. 2 Doubting sad end of principle unsound. 1674 Evelyn Navig. & Commerce §20. 46 From how small a principle she had spread. Ibid. §21. 47 Richlieu..by..Improving their Ports and Magazines, has..given Principle to no inconsiderable Navy. |
† 2. That from which something takes its rise, originates, or is derived; a source; the root (of a word). Obs. (exc. as in 3).
| 1382 Wyclif Job xxviii. 1 Siluer hath the principlis [1388 bigynnyngis; Vulg. principia] of his veynes. 1628 Coke On Litt. 294 b, En Attaint. Attincta, is a Writ that lyeth where a false Verdict in Court of Record vpon an Issue ioyned by the parties is giuen... And is deriued of the principle Tinctus, or Attinctus, for that if the petty Iury be attainted of a false Oath, they are stained with periury. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Disc. vi. 14 Jesus..is the principle, and he is the promoter, he begins our faith in revelations, and perfects it in commandments. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 17 With Osiers thus the Banks of Brooks abound, Sprung from the watry Genius of the Ground: From the same Principles grey Willows come. |
3. In generalized sense: A fundamental source from which something proceeds; a primary element, force, or law which produces or determines particular results; the ultimate basis upon which the existence of something depends; cause, in the widest sense.
| 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxviii. 74 Nothyng cometh of nouȝt, that is to seye, withoute a begynner, but a cause and pryncyple ther must nedes be. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 12 Certeynly grace is in man y⊇ chefe principle of meryte. a 1620 J. Dyke Worthy Commun. To Rdr., Man in his first estate had in himselfe a principle of life. 1701 Grew Cosm. Sacra ii. i. 35 For the performance of this Work, a Vital or Directive Principle seemeth..to be assistant to the Corporeal. 1704 Swift Mech. Operat. Spirit ii. ¶1 Those Idolaters adore two Principles; the Principle of Good, and that of Evil. 1780 Bentham Princ. Legisl. i. §2 note, The word principle..is applied to any thing which is conceived to serve as a foundation or beginning to any series of operations. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 134 Electricity..for a time, reigned as the vital principle, by which ‘the decrees of the understanding, and the dictates of the will were conveyed from the organs of the brain to the obedient member of the body’. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 20 Thales said that the first principle of all things was water. |
4. An original or native tendency or faculty; a natural or innate disposition; a fundamental quality which constitutes the source of action.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 479 Of verray wommanly benignytee That nature in youre principles hath yset. 1642 Rogers Naaman 136 A man..who hath no inward principle of skill to enable him, in comparison of a skilfull workeman. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag., Penalties & Forfeit. n ij, Out of a Principle of good will I have to you. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 116 ¶1 Every Man has such an active Principle in him, that he will find out something to employ himself upon. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 53 Two Principles in human nature reign; Self-love, to urge, and Reason, to restrain. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 201 They, from a principle of instinct, affix themselves to her teats. 1823 Scoresby Jrnl. Whale Fish. 75 Several of them followed the ship, and seemed to be attracted by a principle of curiosity. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 229 The comparison of sensations with one another implies a principle which is above sensation. |
II. Fundamental truth, law, or motive force.
5. a. A fundamental truth or proposition, on which many others depend; a primary truth comprehending, or forming the basis of, various subordinate truths; a general statement or tenet forming the (or a) ground of, or held to be essential to, a system of thought or belief; a fundamental assumption forming the basis of a chain of reasoning.
† craving of the principle (quot. 1587): begging of the question, petitio principii.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 290 The þridde manere of errour þat falliþ in mannes iugement is falceheed of here prynciple þat þei grounden hem on. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 251 Plato afterward made þat art [of logic] more, and fonde þerynne meny principles and rules. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 16 Thys law ys the ground and end of the other, to the wych hyt must euer be referryd, non other wyse then the conclusyonys of artys mathematical are euer referryd to theyr pryncypullys. 1587 Golding De Mornay ix. (1617) 132 Is not this a setting downe of that thing for a ground, which..resteth to be prooued, and (to speake after his owne maner) a crauing of the principle? 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. c j, Hence wil unavoidable follow some other Principles of the ever-to-be-admired DesCartes. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §1 Principles at other times are supposed to be certain fundamental Theorems in Arts and Sciences, in Religion and Politics. 1825 M{supc}Culloch Pol. Econ. 61 (heading) Principles of political economy. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 488 First principles, even if they appear certain, should be carefully considered. |
b. Physics, etc. A highly general or inclusive theorem or ‘law’, admitting of very numerous special applications, or exemplified in a multitude of cases.
Often named after the discoverer, as the Archimedean principle and D'Alembert's p. (in mechanics), Carnot's p. (in heat), Döppler's p. and Helmholtz's p. (in acoustics and optics), Huyghens's p. (in wave-motion), Pascal's p. (in hydrostatics). Cf. law n.1 17 c.
| 1710 J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 85 From this Principle [that of the parallelogram of forces], the Method of explaining the Forces of the Mechanick Powers..may excellently well be deduced. 1838 De Morgan Ess. Probab. 49 Principle II. The probability of any number of independent events all happening together, is the product of their several probabilities. |
c. first principle: a primary proposition, considered self-evident, upon which further reasoning or belief is based; freq. in pl.
In some quots. influenced by sense 3.
| 1638 [see sense 10 a]. 1690 Locke Essay Hum. Und. i. ii. 10 Those (as they are called) first Principles. 1701 J. Norris Ideal World I. ii. 75 As much above the Possibility as the Necessity of Demonstration, in one Word, a very first Principle. 1785 Reid Intell. Powers vi. vi, There are also first principles in morals. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. I. xii. 253 Philosophy in its first principles must have a practical or moral as well as a theoretical or speculative side. Ibid. 260 Those original and innate prejudices..which to all but the philosopher are the first principles of knowledge. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato's Dialogues I. 711 And this is the reason why every man should expend his chief thought and attention on the consideration of his first principles:—are they or are they not rightly laid down? 1934 Times Lit. Suppl. 19 July 497/2 It is to Coleridge's search for first principles in literature that appeal is made. 1961 Cambr. Daily News 10 Feb. 7 Once you have absorbed the first principles in art. |
6. A fundamental quality or attribute which determines the nature of something; essential characteristic or character; essence.
| 1662 Gerbier Princ. 1 The three chief Principles of Magnificent Building, viz. Solidity, Conveniency, and Ornament. 1706 Phillips s.v., The Epicurean Principles, are Magnitude, Figure, and Weight. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. iii. 388 This was the principle and essence of his plan. 1862 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. IV. v. §35. 163 [This] indeed must involve the very principle and meaning of the subject with which he is occupied. |
7. a. A general law or rule adopted or professed as a guide to action; a settled ground or basis of conduct or practice; a fundamental motive or reason of action, esp. one consciously recognized and followed. (Often partly coinciding with sense 5.)
| c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 895 To teche and instruct by the principles and reules made by divers well expertz auctours. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 61 You keepe the prouerbe for a principle, to bed with the Bee and vp with the Lark. 1656 Evelyn Diary 8 July, Some Quakers..; a new phanatic sect, of dangerous principles, who shew no respect to any man, magistrate or other. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 68 He painted the great staircase, and as ill, as if he had spoiled it out of principle. 1763 Johnson 1 July in Boswell, This shews that he has good principles. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby viii. iii, Before I support Conservative principles,..I merely wish to be informed what those principles aim to conserve. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. iv. 183 The barbarian lives without principle and without aim. |
b. Used absol. for good, right, or moral principle: An inward or personal law of right action; personal devotion to right; rectitude, uprightness, honourable character. (Also in pl.)
| 1653 Cromwell Speech 4 July in Carlyle, If I were to choose any servant..I would choose a godly man that hath principles... Because I know where to have a man that hath principles. 1697 Collier Immor. Stage (1698) 287 The management of the Stage..strikes at the Root of Principle, draws off the Inclinations from Virtue, and spoils good Education. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., We say, a Person is a Man of Principles, when he always acts according to the Eternal Rules of Morality, Virtue and Religion. 1721 De Foe Moll Flanders (Bohn) 45 Thus my pride, not my principle..kept me honest. 1874 Bancroft Footpr. Time i. 87 He had brilliant powers, but little principle. 1894 F. Watson Genesis a true Hist. v. 103 The religion of the prophets..the religion of principle rather than of law, and of morality rather than of ritual. Mod. A man of high principle. |
c. Phr. on principle (usually in sense b): as a matter of (moral) principle; on the ground of fixed rule or obligation; from a settled (conscientious) motive. Also on general principles, freq. in weakened sense: in general, for no specified reason, from a settled motive.
[Cf. quot. 1762–71 in 7.]
| 1824 Landor Imag. Conv. xxxii. II. 267 Principles do not much influence the unprincipled, nor mainly the principled. We talk on principle, but we act on interest. 1835 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. i. 10 Outward acts, done on principle create inward habits. 1871 Lowell Pope Prose Wks. 1890 IV. 26 There was a time when I could not read Pope, but disliked him on principle. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 3 May 5/3 He was acting as counsel for an insurance company, and they told him that they were defending on principle. 1894 Somerville & ‘Ross’ Real Charlotte II. xxi. 90 She had no particular dislike for Francie..but on general principles she was pleased that discomfiture had come to Miss Fitzpatrick. 1898 R. Hughes Lakerim Athletic Club 246 Pretty wanted to punch his head on general principles, but decided it would be better to beat him at tennis. 1914 New Republic 26 Dec. 15/1 In one Spanish village he was locked up on general principles, because the King happened to be passing through town that day. 1930 J. C. Ransom God without Thunder ii. viii. 173 It is like the flattery of the man who flatters us on general principles. 1938 ‘G. Graham’ Swiss Sonata 87 Vicky will be held responsible for it just on general principles, and that will be that. |
d. Phr. in principle: theoretically; in general but not necessarily in individual cases.
| 1820 G. Canning in C'tess of Airlie Lady Palmerston (1922) I. vi. 102 So objectionable does it appear to them in principle as well as in practice. 1859 Palmerston in P. Guedalla Palmerston Papers (1928) 117 The First Method would evidently be the best in Principle. 1874 Geo. Eliot Let. 15 July (1956) VI. 67, I am thoroughly opposed in principle (quite apart from any personal reference to myself) to the system of contemporary biography. 1932 Ann. Reg. 1931 295 These [proposals] were rejected by Washington, but the latter made a counter-proposal: that France accept the scheme ‘in principle’, and leave to a conference of technical experts those practical modifications which she desired. 1951 J. Cornish Provincials 102 Still, we were loggers; we had won in principle. 1963 Richardson & Toynbee Thanatos 87 When we say that we know a thing it involves us in saying that it is, at least in principle, verifiable by the senses. |
8. a. A general fact or law of nature by virtue of which a machine or instrument operates; a natural law which furnishes the basis of the construction, or is exemplified in the working, of an artificial contrivance; hence, the general mode of construction or operation of a machine, etc. (Cf. 5 b.)
| 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. iii. §2 (1819) 24 Constructed upon strict optical principles; the self-same principles upon which we ourselves construct optical instruments. 1829 Nat. Philos. I. ii. 8 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) The principle of the Archimedian Screw is occasionally adopted in the wheel-form. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v. Patents, The subject of a patent must be something vendible. A mere principle or method would not be sufficient; but if the patent were actually for a process or thing produced, it would not be a valid objection that the specification described it as a method. a 1842 in Meeson & Welsby Reports VIII. 806 note, In this specification the plaintiff did not claim a patent for a mere principle, but for a mode of applying a well-known principle, viz. the heating of air, by means of a mechanical apparatus, to fires and furnaces. 1858 Lardner Handbk. Nat. Phil. 255 This thermometer is sometimes varied in its form and arrangement, but the principle remains the same. |
b. A general fact which forms the basis of any artificial device (e.g. of a system of measurement).
| 1821 J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 121 The real original connection between the cubic foot and the English bushel was not formed by avoirdupois weights and water, but by the easterling pound of twelve and fifteen ounces and Gascoign wine. It was the principle of the quadrantal and congius of the Romans, applied to the foot and the nummulary pound of the Greeks. Ibid. 179 Thus the gallon of wheat and the gallon of wine, though of different dimensions, balance each other as weights... This observation applies, however only to the original principle of the English system. |
† 9. A motive force or appliance, as in a machine.
| 1631 Milton On University Carrier ii. 10 And like an Engin mov'd with wheel and waight, His principles being ceast, he ended strait. 1830 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 84/1 Much attention was excited in the neighbourhood of Portland-place, by the appearance of a steam-carriage, which made its way through a crowded passage, without any perceptible impulse..; one gentleman directed the moving principle, and another appeared to sit unconcerned behind. |
III. Rudiment, element.
† 10. a. pl. The earliest or elementary parts of a subject of study; elements, rudiments. Obs. or merged in 5.
| 1534 Elyot Doctr. Princes 7 These be the principles and chiefe introduction to the right..gouernance of a publike weale. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 10 The first principles..of these Arts of imitation. 1706 Phillips s.v., Principles are the first Grounds and Rules.., otherwise call'd Elements and Rudiments; as the Principles of Geometry, Algebra, Astronomy, &c. |
† b. concr. A rudiment of a natural structure; a germ, embryo, bud. Obs.
| 1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 109 All the Trunk of a Tree..is fill'd with Principles or little Embrio's of Branches. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §1 Sometimes by Principle we mean a small particular seed, the growth or gradual unfolding of which doth produce an Organized Body, animal or vegetable. |
† 11. a. A component part, ingredient, constituent, element. Obs. (exc. as in c).
proximate principle, ultimate principle: see these words.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 33 There are two materiall principles, the Crassament or substance of the seede..and Bloud. 1644 Bury Wills (Camden) 187 My body I committ to the earth whereof it was framed, knowing it must returne to its first principles. 1655 Fuller Hist. Camb. (1840) 101 Within few years hither came a confluence of buyers, sellers, and lookers-on, which are the three principles of a fair. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §1 Sometimes by Principles we mean the parts of which a whole is composed, and into which it may be resolved. Thus the Elements are said to be principles of compound bodies. And thus words, syllables, and letters are the principles of Speech. |
† b. Old Chem. Chiefly in pl.: The five supposed simple substances or elements of which all bodies were believed to be composed; classed into three active principles (or hypostatical principles), by which the sensible properties of the body were supposed to be determined, called respectively spirit (or mercury), oil (or sulphur), and salt; and two passive principles, called water (or phlegm), and earth (or caput mortuum). Obs.
| 1650 T. Vaughan Anthroposophia 22, I speak not of Kitchin-stuffe, those three Pot-Principles Water, Oyle and Earth, or as some Colliers call them Mercury Sulphur and Salt. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iii. 44 When the heavy Principle of Salt is fired out, and the Earth almost only remaineth [in burnt bones]. 1661–1706 Hypostatical Principles [see hypostatical 2]. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 334 In this manner are extracted from roses the three principles, spirit, oil, and salt. |
c. In later chemical use: One of the constituents of a substance as obtained by chemical analysis; usually restricted to a constituent which gives rise to some characteristic quality, or to which some special action or effect is due, as in active principle, bitter principle, colouring principle, neutral principle.
Of these, bitter principle, is almost the only one commonly used; for the rest constituent or matter is preferred.
| 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. (1736) 265 By which Principles they [spices] are heating, and act strongly. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 299 It is but seldom that either Animal or Vegetable Poisons derive their deleterious properties from either of these principles. 1799 [see narcotic a. 1]. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. iii. (1814) 94 The narcotic principle is found abundantly in opium. Ibid., The bitter principle is very extensively diffused in the vegetable kingdom. Ibid. 123 When any vegetable principle is acted on by a strong red heat, its elements become newly arranged. 1831 T. P. Jones Convers. Chem. xxviii. 282 Those distinct compounds which exist ready formed in a plant, are called its proximate, or immediate principles..sugar, starch, and gum are proximate principles, and these we obtain by proximate analysis. 1842 Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 284 To coagulate various animal principles which may be present. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. (1880) 98 The increase of the colouring matter and other principles of the bile in the evacuations from the bowels. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 26 The active principle of the vegetable astringents is tannic acid,..it is almost their sole therapeutic principle. 1879 Chemical Society, Instr. to Abstractors ¶16 Basic substances should invariably be indicated by names ending in -ine, as aniline..the termination -in being restricted to certain neutral compounds, viz. glycerides, glucosides, bitter principles, and proteids, such as palmitin, amygdalin, albumin. |
▪ II. † principle, v. Obs.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To ground (any one) in the principles or elements of a subject; to impress with principles of action; to instruct, teach, train, indoctrinate; to influence by instruction. (See also principled 1 a.)
| 1608 D. T[uvil] Ess. Pol. & Mor. 124 b, Simplicitie hath principled her selfe with stronger Axiomes then heeretofore. 1651 Fuller's Abel Rediv., Regius (1867) I. 152 Urbanus Regius was born..of honest parents, who principled him in the rudiments of learning. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Durham (1662) i. 300 Pious and orthodox Professors to have Principled and Elemented the Members therein with Learning and Religion. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. iii. §22 Such, who are careful (as they call it) to principle Children well. 1760 Sterne Serm. vi. (1773) 73 He had been so principled and instructed as to observe a scrupulous nicety..in the lesser matters of his religion. |
b. To act upon or influence (one) as a principle; to dispose to some course of action.
| 1712 M. Henry Serm. Death R. Stretton Wks. 1853 II. 392/2 O that grace might..principle you with a concern for their spiritual lives. a 1716 South Serm. (1744) XI. 305 It is not the mere interest of his own salvation, but of God's honour, that principles and moves him in the whole course of his actions. |
2. To be the principle, source, or basis of; to give rise to, originate.
| 1650 T. Vaughan Anima Magica 2 They would ground Nature on Reasons fram'd and principl'd by their own Conceptions. 1668 Owen Nat. & Power Indwell. Sin xv. 259 All neglect of private duties is principled by a weariness of God. 1675 R. Burthogge Causa Dei 242 Not conceiving how any lower Being should be able to inspire and principle it [world]. |
Hence ˈprincipling vbl. n.
| 1649 in Perfect Diurnall 26 Mar., Public Schools for the better education and principling of youth in virtue and justice. 1692 Locke Educ. §70 If the foundation of it be not laid in the Education and Principling of the Youth, all other Endeavours will be in vain. |