View synonyms for principal

principal

[ prin-suh-puhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

first or highest in rank, importance, value, etc.; chief; foremost:
The principal problem is a lack of money.
She's the principal advisor on the council.
Synonyms: preeminent, cardinal, main, leading, paramount, prime
Antonyms: ancillary, secondary
of, of the nature of, or constituting principal or capital:
Though our portfolio has seen losses, the principal investment remains untouched.
Geometry. (of an axis of a conic) passing through the foci.

noun

a chief or head.
Synonyms: leader
the head or director of a school or, especially in England, a college.
Synonyms: master, dean, headmaster
a person who takes a leading part in any activity, as a play; chief actor or doer.
the first player of a division of instruments in an orchestra (excepting the leader of the first violins).
something of principal or chief importance.
Law.
1. a person who authorizes someone else, such as an agent, to represent them.
2. a person directly responsible for a crime, either as an actual perpetrator or as an abettor present at its commission. Compare accessory ( def 3 ).
a person primarily liable for an obligation, in contrast with an endorser, or the like.
the main body of an estate, or the like, as distinguished from income.
Finance. a capital sum, as distinguished from interest or profit.
Music.
1. an organ stop.
2. the subject of a fugue.
(in a framed structure) a member, as a truss, upon which adjacent or similar members depend for support or reinforcement.
each of the combatants in a duel, as distinguished from the seconds.

principal

/ ˈprɪnsɪpəl /

adjective

first in importance, rank, value, etc; chief
denoting or relating to capital or property as opposed to interest, etc

noun

a person who is first in importance or directs some event, action, organization, etc
(in Britain) a civil servant of an executive grade who is in charge of a section
law
1. a person who engages another to act as his agent
2. an active participant in a crime
3. the person primarily liable to fulfil an obligation
the head of a school or other educational institution
(in Scottish schools) a head of department
finance
1. capital or property, as contrasted with the income derived from it
2. the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
a main roof truss or rafter
music
1. the chief instrumentalist in a section of the orchestra
2. one of the singers in an opera company
3. either of two types of open diapason organ stops, one of four-foot length and pitch and the other of eight-foot length and pitch
the leading performer in a play

principal

The original amount of money lent, not including profits and interest .

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Usage

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Confusables Note

The noun principle and the noun and adjective principal are often confused. Although pronounced alike, the words are not interchangeable in writing. A principle is broadly “a rule of action or conduct” ( His overriding principle is greed ) or “a fundamental doctrine or tenet” ( Their principles do not permit the use of alcoholic beverages ). The adjective principal has the general sense “chief, first, foremost”: My principal objection is the cost of the project. The noun principal has among other meanings “the head or director of a school” ( The faculty supported the principal in her negotiations with the board ) and “a capital sum, as distinguished from interest or profit” ( The monthly payments go mostly for interest, leaving the principal practically untouched ).

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