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PRINCIPAL
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):
financier; moneyman (a person skilled in large scale financial transactions)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):
broker-dealer (a financial specialist who trades for his own account and so acts both as a broker and principal)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The educator who has executive authority for a school
Example:
she sent unruly pupils to see the principal
Synonyms:
head; head teacher; principal; school principal
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):
educator; pedagog; pedagogue (someone who educates young people)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):
chancellor (the honorary or titular head of a university)
headmaster; master; schoolmaster (presiding officer of a school)
headmistress (a woman headmaster)
Derivation:
principalship (the post of principal)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):
offender; wrongdoer (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)
Domain category:
criminal law (the body of law dealing with crimes and their punishment)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):
criminal; crook; felon; malefactor; outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)
Sense 4
Meaning:
An actor who plays a principal role
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):
actor; histrion; player; role player; thespian (a theatrical performer)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "principal"):
co-star (one of two actors who are given equal status as stars in a play or film)
film star; movie star (a star who plays leading roles in the cinema)
idol; matinee idol (someone who is adored blindly and excessively)
television star; TV star (a star in a television show)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Capital as contrasted with the income derived from it
Synonyms:
corpus; principal; principal sum
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):
capital (wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Hypernyms ("principal" is a kind of...):
debt (money or goods or services owed by one person to another)
Holonyms ("principal" is a part of...):
loan (the temporary provision of money (usually at interest))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Most important element
Example:
a master switch
Synonyms:
chief; main; master; primary; principal
Classified under:
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Context examples:
Specifies whether this is the principal administrative organization intended to be responsible for the study.
(Planned Study Site Lead Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)
Let me run over the principal steps.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Lestrade, allow me to present you with your principal missing witness, Mr. Jonas Oldacre.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
You can have the principal to keep for yourself, if you'll use the thirty-five dollars a month for cooking and washing and scrubbing.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A principal metabolite of hexamethylmelamine with antineoplastic activity.
(Pentamethylmelamine, NCI Thesaurus)
A coded value specifying the principal activity that a person does to earn money.
(Person Primary Occupation Code, NCI Thesaurus)
A metabolite of icariin, a principal flavonoid glycoside in Herba Epimedii (a traditional Chinese medicine herb used in treating osteoporosis) with potential antineoplastic activity.
(ERa36 Modulator Icaritin, NCI Thesaurus)
He was fond of the country and of books; and from these tastes had arisen his principal enjoyments.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
A principal artery that originates in the aorta.
(Coronary Artery, NCI Thesaurus)
She has a couple of thousand pounds of her own, and saves the interest of it every year, to add to the principal.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
