principal
Other forms: principals
For an adjective that points to the main or most important thing, your best choice is principal. Is your principal goal for the summer to have fun or to earn some extra money?
The word, principal, comes from the Latin principalis "first in importance" and is related to the title of prince. You can see the relation when you think about its meanings — the head of a school, the starring actor in a film, and the client of an agent. Don't confuse principal with its homophone principle, a moral rule or law of nature. If you talk about a country's principal exports, you mean the main ones.
-
most important element
-
the educator who has executive authority for a school“she sent unruly pupils to see the principal”synonyms: head, head teacher, school principaltypes:chancellorthe honorary or titular head of a universityheadmistressa woman headmasterhousemasterteacher in charge of a school boardinghouse
-
the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own accountsynonyms: dealertypes:broker-dealera financial specialist who trades for his own account and so acts both as a broker and principal
-
an actor who plays a principal roletypes:co-starone of two actors who are given equal status as stars in a play or filmheartthroban object of infatuationtype of:
-
capital as contrasted with the income derived from itsynonyms: corpus, principal sumtype of:capitalwealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value
-
the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculatedtype of:debtmoney or goods or services owed by one person to another
-
(criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvementtypes:criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlawsomeone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crimeblackmailer, extortioner, extortionista criminal who extorts money from someone by threatening to expose embarrassing information about themfugitive, fugitive from justicesomeone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justicehighbindera corrupt politicianhighjacker, hijackersomeone who uses force to take over a vehicle (especially an airplane) in order to reach an alternative destinationgoon, hood, hoodlum, punk, strong-armer, thug, tough, toughiean aggressive and violent young criminalabductor, kidnaper, kidnapper, snatchersomeone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom)mafiosoa member of the Mafia crime syndicate in the United Statesliquidator, manslayer, murderera criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being)racketeersomeone who commits crimes for profit (especially one who obtains money by fraud or extortion)habitual criminal, recidivist, repeatersomeone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)scofflawone who habitually ignores the law and does not answer court summonsescontrabandist, moon curser, moon-curser, runner, smugglersomeone who imports or exports without paying duties
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
principal / principle
Vocabulary lists containing principal
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently (a type of homonym) can be stumbling blocks in comprehension or when trying to communicate something in writing. If you know that there's "peek" "peak" and "pique," which one do you use to describe what your character did at the window? If you use the wrong one, then your character has reached the heights (peak) or is having a fit if anger (pique) by the window. Is that what you mean? Is the character simply looking through that window (peek)? As you can see, all these words sound the same but suggest very different things. Here are 32 vocabulary words that are often confused.
Congraduations may be cute, but it's not a real word. Here are fifteen real words often seen and heard in the days before and after a graduation ceremony, hidden under mortarboards and robes. For the full article, check out The Valedictory Lingo of Graduation
In 1951, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recruited 13 parents to file a class action suit on behalf of their children. The named plaintiff, Oliver Brown, was the father of a third grader who, denied admission to a neighborhood school because of his race, was forced to walk six blocks to take a bus to a black school. On reviewing the District Court's ruling based on the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court decided that segregated public schools were unequal and unconstitutional. This led to the Civil Rights Act of 1957. These words are from the unanimous opinion written by Earl Warren. Read the full text here.