princeps

English

Etymology

Latin princeps (“first, foremost”). Doublet of prince.

Noun

princeps

1. One who, or that which, is foremost, original, etc.
2. The editio princeps, or first edition of a book.

Related terms

• principicide

Anagrams

• Crippens

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

princeps

Wikipedia ^nl

Etymology

From Latin princeps. Doublet of prins.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

princeps m (uncountable)

1. princeps; Roman emperor

Related terms

• principaat
• prins, prinses

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *priisemokaps by syncope. By surface analysis, prīmus (“first”) +‎ -ceps (“catcher”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpriːn.keps/, or IPA^(key): /ˈprin.keps/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈprin.t͡ʃeps/,
• Note: the length of the first vowel might have varied, being subject to one or more rounds of Osthoff's Law which shortens vowels before an /n/ in the same syllable. Ancient Greek πρῖγκιψ (prînkips) shows there was a pronunciation with long /ī/, which must have been maintained by analogy with prīmus, but an archaic Italian form prence points to a form in /ĭ/. See also Italian prencipe, an alternative form of principe.

Adjective

prī̆nceps (genitive prī̆ncipis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. first, foremost
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.12:

     Ita sive casu sive consilio deorum immortalium quae pars civitatis Helvetiae insignem calamitatem populo Romano intulerat, ea princeps poenam persolvit.

     Thus, whether by chance or by the design of the immortal gods, that part of the Helvetian state which had brought a signal calamity upon the Roman people, was the first to pay the penalty.

2. chief, distinguished

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

Synonyms

• (first): prīmus

Derived terms

• prī̆nceps cīvitātis (“first citizen”) (a title of the Roman Emperors, beginning with Caesar Augustus)
• prī̆nceps senātūs (“first among senators”) (a title of the leader of the Roman Senate, ending with the Roman Empire)

Noun

prī̆nceps m or f (genitive prī̆ncipis); third declension

1. a leader, first man or woman, head
   • The official Style of the British sovereign :

     Carolus III, Deī Grātiā Britanniārum Rēgnōrumque Suōrum Cēterōrum Rēx, Cōnsortiōnis Populōrum Prīnceps, Fideī Dēfēnsor

     Charles III, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain <and Northern Ireland> and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith

2. a principal person
3. an author, originator, founder
4. a chief, director
5. a prince, sovereign
6. (military, in the plural) company or division of the second line of soldiers

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

• (prince): prīncipissa f

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Further reading

• “princeps”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “princeps”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• princeps in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• princeps in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be considered the foremost orator: primum or principem inter oratores locum obtinere
    
  • to be considered the foremost orator: oratorum principem esse
    
  • to be the chief man in the state: principem civitatis esse
    
  • to hold the first position in the state: principem in re publica locum obtinere
    
  • statesmen: principes rem publicam administrantes or simply principes
    
  • to occupy the first, second position in the state: principem (primum), secundum locum dignitatis obtinere
    
  • the aristocracy (as a leading class in government): principes or primores
    
• “princeps”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• princeps in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “princeps”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin princeps.

Adjective

princeps m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. princeps

Declension

Noun

princeps m (uncountable)

1. princeps

Declension