Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
principium. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
principium, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
principium in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
principium you have here. The definition of the word
principium will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
principium, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Latin
Etymology
From prī̆nceps (“first, foremost”) + -ium (“suffix forming abstract nouns”).
Pronunciation
Noun
prī̆ncipium n (genitive prī̆ncipiī or prī̆ncipī); second declension
- a beginning, an origin, a commencement
- Synonyms: initium, exordium, prīmōrdium, orīgō, rudīmentum, limen
- Antonym: fīnis
[90-110], [John] Iōannēs, Biblia [Bible], volume Novum Testāmentum (canonical gospel), Ēvangelium secundum Iōannem , chapter 1, verse 1, lines 1–3:In prīncipiō erat Verbum,
et Verbum erat apud Deum
et Deus erat Verbum.- In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God
and the Word was God. - (literally, “In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God
and God was the Word”)
- a groundwork, a foundation, a principle
- (in the plural) the elements, the first principles
- (military, in the plural) the front ranks, camp headquarters
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).
1Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).
Derived terms
Descendants
Adjective
prī̆ncipium
- genitive plural of prī̆nceps
See also
References
- “principium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “principium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- principium 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)
- principium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- the elements: elementa; initia or principia rerum
- to start from false premises: a falsis principiis proficisci