Prin"ci*pal , n.
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.]
Prin"ci*pal (?), a. [F., from L.
principalis. See Prince.]
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.
Principal axis. See Axis of a curve, under Axis. -- Principal axes of a quadric (Geom.),
three lines in which the principal planes of the solid intersect two and two, as in an ellipsoid. -- Principal challenge.
(Law) See under Challenge.
-- Principal plane. See Plane of projection (a), under Plane. -- Principal of a quadric (Geom.),
three planes each of which is at right angles to the
other two, and bisects all chords of the quadric perpendicular
to the plane, as in an ellipsoid. -- Principal point
(Persp.), the projection of the point of
sight upon the plane of
projection. -- Principal ray
(Persp.), the line drawn through the point of
sight perpendicular
to the perspective plane. --
Principal section (Crystallog.), a plane passing through the optical axis of a crystal.
Hear it pronounced