3 uses
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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
- It was what they principally sought and admired on their occasional travels abroad; considering architecture and painting as subjects for men, and chiefly for learned persons who read Ruskin.Chapter 5 (19% in)
- The Duke of course would be their principal theme; though the appearance in Fifth Avenue of a golden-haired lady in a small canary-coloured brougham with a pair of black cobs (for which Beaufort was generally thought responsible) would also doubtless be thoroughly gone into.Chapter 10 (37% in)
- Little arduous as his professional duties were, he would have been convicted of frivolity by the whole Mingott clan if he had suggested asking for a holiday in mid-winter; and he accepted May's departure with the resignation which he perceived would have to be one of the principal constituents of married life.Chapter 13 (81% in)
There are no more uses of "principal" in The Age of Innocence.
Typical Usage
(best examples)