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Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
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principal

noun · adjective US /ˈprɪnsəpəl/

the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

How often you will meet it

Rank 2,563 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 6,567 times across 175,113 chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.

What it means

noun

  1. the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
  2. the educator who has executive authority for a school also: school principal, head teacher, head she sent unruly pupils to see the principal
  3. an actor who plays a principal role also: star, lead
  4. capital as contrasted with the income derived from it also: corpus, principal sum
  5. (criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement
  6. the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account also: dealer

adjective

  1. most important element also: chief, main, primary, master the chief aim of livingthe main doors were of solid glass

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

principal in real books

Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.

  • There were two tables in the principal eating-room.

    The Countess of Saint Geran Celebrated Crimes · Alexandre Dumas · Chapter 1

  • The exact definition of this requirement is given in the two principal rules.

    The Club of Queer Trades · G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton · Chapter 1

  • III In Sweden the principal celebration with its distribution of gifts takes place late on Christmas Eve.

    The Soul of a Child · Edwin Björkman · Chapter 1

  • The Quakers were the principal sect, but men of all religions were tolerated, and lived together in harmony.

    Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and other poems Part 6 From — Volume I · John Greenleaf Whittier · Chapter 1

  • His principal hostility was directed against Wolsey, whose arrogance and grasping practices were the constant subjects of his railing.

    Windsor Castle · William Harrison Ainsworth · Chapter 1

Nearby in the frequency table

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