prince

/prɪns/

/prɪns/

Other forms: princes

A prince is royalty, the son of a king or queen. Originally, a prince was the ruler of and individual territory, also known as “principalities.” A prince is a popular fairy tale hero, but there are real live ones, too.

A prince is the son of a monarch, possibly even the person who stands to inherit the title of king after his father's death. Sometimes, though, a prince is simply a member of the royal family, or even a ruler over a small area of the monarch's country. Prince comes from the Latin princeps, "first man" or "ruler," from primus, "first." A prince is often first in line to inherit the throne.

Definitions of prince

1. noun

   a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign)
   examples:

   Cyrus the Younger

   Persian prince who was defeated in battle by his brother Artaxerxes II (424-401 BC)

   Edward Antony Richard Louis

   third son of Elizabeth II (born in 1964)

   Duke of Edinburgh

   Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)

   Prince Rupert

   English leader (born in Germany) of the Royalist forces during the English Civil War (1619-1682)

   types:

   archduke

   a sovereign prince of the former ruling house of Austria

   crown prince

   a male heir apparent to a throne

   dauphin

   formerly, the eldest son of the King of France and direct heir to the throne

   grand duke

   a prince who rules a territory

   maharaja, maharajah

   a great raja; a Hindu prince or king in India ranking above a raja

   Elector

   any of the German princes who were entitled to vote in the election of new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

   prince consort

   a prince who is the husband of a reigning female sovereign

   princeling

   a young prince

   princeling

   a petty or insignificant prince who rules some unimportant principality

   Prince of Wales

   the male heir apparent of the British sovereign

   type of:

   aristocrat, blue blood, patrician

   a member of the aristocracy