principal

Adj

1. Primary; most important; first level in importance.
2. (Latinism, obsolete) Of or relating to a prince; princely.
3. Chosen or assumed among a branch of possible values of a multi-valued function so that the function is single-valued.

Noun

1. (uncountable) The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.
2. (Australia, Canada, New-Zealand, Philippines, US, countable, uncountable) The chief administrator of a school.
3. (Canada, UK, countable, uncountable) The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.
4. (countable, uncountable) A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on their behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.
5. (countable, uncountable) The primary participant in a crime.
6. (countable, uncountable) Either party in a duel.
7. (Canada, US, countable, uncountable) A partner or owner of a business.
8. (countable, uncountable) A type of stop on a pipe organ consisting of flue pipes with a bright tonal quality. They are also sometimes referred to as a diapason.
9. (countable, uncountable) The construction that gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron; or, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.
10. (countable, uncountable) The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing.
11. (countable, uncountable) One of the turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and centre of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned
12. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) An essential point or rule; a principle.
13. (countable, uncountable) A dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company.
14. (countable, uncountable) A security principal.
15. (countable, uncountable) A main character or lead actor.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɹɪnsɪpəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: principal

In summary

From Middle English principal, from Old French principal, from Latin prīncipālis.

Synonyms

chief

main

capital

primary

major

head

headmaster

leading

important

master

director

best

prime

leader

central

first

1st

prominent

boss

essential

basic

highest

manager

foremost

principal sum

capital sum

fundamental

cardinal

corpus

ringleader

original

pre-eminent

most important

ruler

school principal

lead

head teacher

commander

asset

staple

dealer

star

⭐

supreme

real

near

administrator

most excellent

momentous

close

employer

client

Translations

principal

principal

director

principal

voornaamste

Schuldirektor

essentiel

principale

directeur

capital

hoofd-

Schulleiter

Rektor

Kapital

schoolhoofd

Sentences

The principal occupation , however , was farming .

The principal language of instruction is Icelandic .