principal Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
  2. noun the educator who has executive authority for a school
    head; school principal; head teacher.
    • she sent unruly pupils to see the principal
  3. noun an actor who plays a principal role
    star; lead.
  4. noun capital as contrasted with the income derived from it
    corpus; principal sum.
  5. noun (criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement
  6. noun the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account
    dealer.
  7. adjective satellite most important element
    chief; main; master; primary.
    • the chief aim of living
    • the main doors were of solid glass
    • the principal rivers of America
    • the principal example
    • policemen were primary targets
    • the master bedroom
    • a master switch

WordNet

Prin"ci*pal adjective
Etymology
F., from L. principalis. See Prince.
Definitions
  1. Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case.
    Wisdom is the principal thing. Prov. iv. 7.
  2. Of or pertaining to a prince; princely. A Latinism Obs. Spenser.
Prin"ci*pal noun
Definitions
  1. A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; -- distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.
  2. Hence: (Law) (a) The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, -- as distinguished from an accessory. (b) A chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, -- as distinguished from a surety. (c) One who employs another to act for him, -- as distinguished from an agent. Wharton. Bouvier. Burrill.
  3. A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous. Specifically: (a) (Com.) A capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; -- so called in distinction from interest or profit. (b) (Arch. & Engin.) The construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, -- generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing. (c) (Mus.) In English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason. (d) (O. Eng. Law) A heirloom; a mortuary. Cowell. (e) pl. The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing. Spenser. J. H. Walsh. (f) One of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned. Oxf. Gloss. (g) A principal or essential point or rule; a principle. Obs.

Webster 1913