All 6 Uses of
principal
in
Don Quixote
- And if truth to life is the main thing the drama should keep in view, how is it possible for any average understanding to be satisfied when the action is supposed to pass in the time of King Pepin or Charlemagne, and the principal personage in it they represent to be the Emperor Heraclius who entered Jerusalem with the cross and won the Holy Sepulchre, like Godfrey of Bouillon, there being years innumerable between the one and the other?†
Chpt 1.47-48principal = most important; or person that is most important
- "And about me," said Sancho, "for they say, too, that I am one of the principal presonages in it."†
Chpt 2.3-4 *
- That lad there appears as Death, that other as an angel, that woman, the manager's wife, plays the queen, this one the soldier, that the emperor, and I the devil; and I am one of the principal characters of the play, for in this company I take the leading parts.†
Chpt 2.11-12
- There are, to be sure, women in Kandy that go about from house to house to remove down, and trim eyebrows, and make cosmetics for the use of the women, but we, the duennas of my lady, would never let them in, for most of them have a flavour of agents that have ceased to be principals; and if we are not relieved by SeƱor Don Quixote we shall be carried to our graves with beards.†
Chpt 2.39-40principals = most important; or people that are most important
- On reaching the gates of the town, which was a walled one, the municipality came forth to meet him, the bells rang out a peal, and the inhabitants showed every sign of general satisfaction; and with great pomp they conducted him to the principal church to give thanks to God, and then with burlesque ceremonies they presented him with the keys of the town, and acknowledged him as perpetual governor of the island of Barataria.†
Chpt 2.45-46principal = most important; or person that is most important
- "I am the same," replied the gentleman; "and that same Don Quixote, the principal personage in the said history, was a very great friend of mine, and it was I who took him away from home, or at least induced him to come to some jousts that were to be held at Saragossa, whither I was going myself; indeed, I showed him many kindnesses, and saved him from having his shoulders touched up by the executioner because of his extreme rashness."†
Chpt 2.71-72
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