principal

prin·ci·pal  (prns-pl)

adj.

1. First, highest, or foremost in importance, rank, worth, or degree; chief. See Synonyms at chief.

2. Of, relating to, or being financial principal, or a principal in a financial transaction.

n.

1. One who holds a position of presiding rank, especially the head of an elementary school or high school.

2. A main participant in a situation.

3. A person having a leading or starring role.

4.

a. The capital or main body of an estate or financial holding as distinguished from the interest or revenue from it.

b. A sum of money owed as a debt, upon which interest is calculated.

5. Law

a. A person who empowers another to act as his or her representative.

b. The person having prime responsibility for an obligation as distinguished from one who acts as surety or as an endorser.

c. One who commits or is an accomplice to a crime.

6. Architecture Either of a pair of inclined timbers forming the sides of a triangular truss for a pitched roof.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prnciplis, from prnceps, prncip-, leader, emperor; see per¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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princi·pal·ly adv.

princi·pal·ship n.

Usage Note: Principal and principle are often confused but have no meanings in common. Principle is only a noun and usually refers to a rule or standard. Principal is both a noun and an adjective. As a noun, it has specialized meanings in law and finance, but in general usage it refers to a person who holds a high position or plays an important role: a meeting among all the principals in the transaction. As an adjective it has the sense of "chief" or "leading": The coach's principal concern is the quarterback's health.

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principal [ˈprɪnsɪp^əl]

adj (prenominal)

1. first in importance, rank, value, etc.; chief

2. (Economics, Accounting & Finance / Banking & Finance) denoting or relating to capital or property as opposed to interest, etc.

n

1. a person who is first in importance or directs some event, action, organization, etc.

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in Britain) a civil servant of an executive grade who is in charge of a section

3. (Law) Law

a.  a person who engages another to act as his agent

b.  an active participant in a crime

c.  the person primarily liable to fulfil an obligation

4. (Social Science / Education) the head of a school or other educational institution

5. (Social Science / Education) (in Scottish schools) a head of department

6. (Economics, Accounting & Finance / Banking & Finance) Finance

a.  capital or property, as contrasted with the income derived from it

b.  the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

7. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) a main roof truss or rafter

8. (Music, other) Music

a.  the chief instrumentalist in a section of the orchestra

b.  one of the singers in an opera company

c.  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

9. (Performing Arts / Theatre) the leading performer in a play

[via Old French from Latin principālis chief, from princeps chief man, prince]

principalship  n

Usage: See at principle

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	principal - the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated debt - money or goods or services owed by one person to another loan - the temporary provision of money (usually at interest)
	2.	principal - the educator who has executive authority for a school; "she sent unruly pupils to see the principal" head teacher, school principal, head chancellor - the honorary or titular head of a university educator, pedagog, pedagogue - someone who educates young people headmaster, schoolmaster, master - presiding officer of a school headmistress - a woman headmaster
	3.	principal - an actor who plays a principal role star, lead actor, histrion, thespian, role player, player - a theatrical performer 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 matinee idol, idol - someone who is adored blindly and excessively television star, TV star - a star in a television show
	4.	principal - capital as contrasted with the income derived from it corpus, principal sum capital - wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value
	5.	principal - (criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement criminal law - the body of law dealing with crimes and their punishment offender, wrongdoer - a person who transgresses moral or civil law criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw - someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
	6.	principal - the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account dealer broker-dealer - a financial specialist who trades for his own account and so acts both as a broker and principal financier, moneyman - a person skilled in large scale financial transactions
Adj.	1.	principal - most important element; "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" chief, main, master, primary important, of import - of great significance or value; "important people"; "the important questions of the day"

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principal

adjective

main, leading, chief, prime, first, highest, controlling, strongest, capital, key, essential, primary, most important, dominant, arch, cardinal, paramount, foremost, pre-eminent their principal concern is that of winning the next election
main minor, subsidiary, subordinate, inferior, supplementary, auxiliary

noun

1. headmaster or headmistress, head (informal), director, dean, head teacher, rector, master or mistress the principal of the local high school

2. boss, head, leader, director, chief (informal), master, ruler, superintendent, baas (S. African) the principal of the company

3. star, lead, leader, prima ballerina, first violin, leading man or lady, coryphée soloists and principals of The Scottish Ballet orchestra

4. capital, money, assets, working capital, capital funds Use the higher premiums to pay the interest and principal on the debt. see principle

Translations

principal [ˈprɪnsɪpəl]

A. ADJ

1. [reason, cause, source] → principal
our principal concern is the well-being of our children → nuestra mayor or principal preocupación es el bienestar de nuestros hijos

2. (Mus) → primero

3. (Fin) principal amount → capital m principal, principal m

B. N

1. [of school, college] → director(a) m/f (Univ) → rector(a) m/f

2. (Theat) → protagonista mf principal

3. (Mus) → primer(a)instrumentista mf

4. (Fin) → capital m, principal m
principal and interest → el principal y los intereses

C. CPD principal boy N (Brit) (Theat) → joven héroe m (papel de actriz en la "pantomime" navideña)

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principal [ˈprɪnsɪp^əl]

adj (= main) → principal(e) often before n

n

(= headmaster) → directeur/trice m/f, principal(e) m/f

(in play) → rôle principal

(= money) → principal m

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principal

adj → Haupt-, hauptsächlich; the principal cities of China → die wichtigsten Städte Chinas; my principal concern → mein Hauptanliegen nt; principal person → Hauptperson f; principal teacher → Rektor(in) m(f); principal horn in the Philharmonic Orchestra → erster Hornist/erste Hornistin der Philharmoniker

n

(of school, college) → Rektor(in) m(f); (in play) → Hauptperson f; (in duel) → Duellant m

(Fin, of investment) → Kapitalsumme f; (of debt) → Kreditsumme f

(esp Jur: = client) → Klient(in) m(f), → Mandant(in) m(f)

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principal [ˈprɪnsɪp/əl]

1. adj → principale
the principal violin → il primo violino

2. n

a. (of school, college) → preside m/f; (in play) → protagonista m/f; (in orchestra) → primo/a strumentista m/f

b. (Fin) → capitale m

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principal [ˈprɪnsɪp/əl]

1. adj → principale
the principal violin → il primo violino

2. n

a. (of school, college) → preside m/f; (in play) → protagonista m/f; (in orchestra) → primo/a strumentista m/f

b. (Fin) → capitale m

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principal

adj principal [ˈprinsəpəl]

most important Shipbuilding was one of Britain's principal industries. hoof رَئيسي главен hlavní vigtig; hoved- hauptsächlich κυριότερος principal tähtsaim اصلی pääasiallinen principal עִיקָרִי मुख्य, प्रधान, प्रमुख, मूल fő terpenting megin- principale 主要な 주요한 pagrindinis, svarbiausias galvenais; svarīgākais utama voornaamste hoved-, viktigst główny principal principal главный hlavný glaven glavni huvudsaklig, viktigast สำคัญมากกว่าอย่างอื่น temel 最重要的 головний, основний اول، اعلي chính 最重要的

n

1 the head of a school, college or university. hoof, prinsipaal مُدير المَدْرَسَه أو رَئيس الكُليَّه директор ředitel, -ka inspektør; rektor der/die Direktor(in) διευθυντής director direktor, rektor رئیس rehtori directeur/-trice מְנָהֵל प्रधानाचार्य, प्राचार्य igazgató kepala sekolah skólastjóri direttore, direttrice, preside 校長 교장, 학장 direktorius rektors; direktors pengetua directeur, rector rektor, skolestyrer dyrektor szkoły reitor director; rector; decan директор школы/колледжа; ректор университета riaditeľ, -ka predstojnik, ravnatelj, rektor direktor rektor ผู้อำนวยการสถานศึกษา müdür 校長 ректор університету; директор школи تعليم گاہ کا صدر hiệu trưởng 校长

2 a leading actor, singer or dancer in a theatrical production. hoofrol المُمَثِّل او الرّاقِص الرَّئيسي солист hlavní herec, zpěvák, tanečník hovedkraft die Hauptperson πρωταγωνιστής protagonista esinäitleja, esilaulja, esitantsija بازیگر یا خواننده اصلی pää- premier rôle רָאשִי मूल, मूलधन főszereplő pemeran utama aðalleikari/-dansari/-söngvari primo attore 主役 주연 배우, 주역 pagrindinio vaidmens atlikėjas vadošais aktieris/dziedātājs/dejotājs pelakon utama hoofdrolspeler hovedrolleinnehaver odtwórca głównej roli/partii actor principal rol principal ведущий исполнитель hlavný herec, spevák, tanečník glavna vloga glavni glumac solist, huvudperson ตัวเอกในละคร baş oyuncu 主要演員 провідний актор; провідна актриса بڑا اداکار nhân vật chính 主要演员

3 the amount of money in a bank etc on which interest is paid. hoofsom مَبلَغ المال في المَصرِف основен капитал jistina hovedstol das Kapital αρχικό κεφάλαιο επένδυσης capital kapital اصل سرمایه pääoma capital קֶרֶן मूख्य धरन, शाहतीर tőke modal höfuðstóll capitale 元金 원금 pagrindinė suma pamatkapitāls wang simpanan kapitaal kapital kapitał capital capital капитал istina, kapitál glavnica glavnica kapital ต้นทุน ana para 本金，資本 основний капітал سرمايہ، رأس المال tiền gốc 本金，资本

adv principally

mostly; chiefly I am principally concerned with teaching English. hoofsaaklik أولا وَقَبْل كُل شَيء главно hlavně hovedsagligt; principielt hauptsächlich κυρίως principalmente peamiselt عمدتاً pääasiallisesti principalement בְּעִיקָר मुख्य रूप से főként terutama aðallega principalmente 주로 daugiausia, iš esmės galvenokārt terutamanya voornamelijk hovedsakelig, først og fremst głównie principalmente în primul rând главным образом hlavne predvsem uglavnom huvudsakligen, väsentligen อย่างสำคัญที่สุด temel olarak 大抵，主要地 переважно, здебільшого خصوصاً chủ yếu 大抵，主要地

the principal (not principle ) dancer.

principal (not principle ) of the college.

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principal → أصلي, قائد, مدرس أول, مدير مدرسة hlavní, ředitel, rektor forstander, leder, skoleinspektør, vigtigst hauptsächlich, Leiter, Schulleiter διευθυντής σχολείου, επικεφαλής, κυριότερος director, director del colegio, jefe, principal rehtori, tärkein chef d’établissement, directeur, principal direktor škole, glavni, ravnatelj, ravnatelj škole capo, direttore, preside, principale 主な, 校長, 長 교장, 우두머리, 주된 directeur, hoofd, schoolhoofd, voornaamste rektor, sjef, viktigst dyrektor szkoły, główny, szef, zwierzchnik director, director de colégio, diretor, diretor de colégio, principal главный, директор, директор школы chef, huvud-, rektor ครูใหญ่, ที่เป็นหลักปฏิบัติ, สำคัญมากกว่าอย่างอื่น baş, başöğretmen, müdür chính, hiệu trưởng, người đứng đầu 中小学校长, 主要的, 校长, 首脑