3 uses
(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
most important; or person who is most important
The exact meaning of principal can depend upon its context. For example:
- "the principal idea" or "the principal performer" — the most important
- "the principal of the school" — the person in charge
- "a principal of a company" — an owner or person with controlling authority
- "the principal in a transaction" (as contrasted to the agent) — the person on whose behalf an agent acts
- Then the king begins to work his jaw again, and says how him and his nieces would be glad if a few of the main principal friends of the family would take supper here with them this evening, and...Chapter 25 (25% in)
principal = most important (in this case, "the closest friends")
- ...made a little speech, and praised up this tragedy, and said it was the most thrillingest one that ever was; and so he went on a-bragging about the tragedy, and about Edmund Kean the Elder, which was to play the main principal part in it;Chapter 23 (5% in)
- Lots of the principal people gethered around the king, to let him see they was on his side.Chapter 29 (4% in)
There are no more uses of "principal" in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Typical Usage
(best examples)