principle 
place the singular use of the word principle In the seme 
of H legal proposition elicited from the precedeuU hy com- 
parison aud induction. 
Maine, Village Communities, p. 335. 
5. That which is professed or accepted as a 
law of action or a rule of conduct ; one of the 
fundamental doctrines or tenets of a system : 
as, the principles of the Stoics or of the Epi- 
cureans; hence, a right rule of conduct; in gen- 
eral, equity; uprightness: as, a man of prin- 
ciple. 
If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I 
would teach them should be to forswear thin potations. 
Shale., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 3. 133. 
They dissolved themselves and turned Seekers, keeping 
that one principle. That every one should have liberty to 
worship God according to the light of their own con- 
sciences. N. Morton, New England's Memorial, p. 164. 
In all governments truly republican, men are nothing 
principle Is everything. 
V. Webster, Speech at Salem, Mass., Aug. 7, 1834. 
The party whose principles nlforded him [James 1 1. 1 no 
guarantee would be attached to him by interest. The 
party whose Interests he attacked would be restrained 
from insurrection by principle. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., viL 
The man of principle that is, the man who, without 
any flourish of trumpets, titles of lordship, or train of 
guards, without any notice of his action abroad, expect- 
ing none, takes In solitude the right step uniformly, on 
his private choice, and disdaining consequences does 
not yield, in my imagination, to any man. 
Kmerton, War. 
6. In client. : (a) A component part ; an ele- 
ment: as, the constituent principles of bodies. 
(6) A substance on the presence of which cer- 
tain qualities, common to a number of bodies, 
depend. See proximate principles, under prox- 
imate. 
t'ondnementto a single alimentary principle, or to any 
one class of them alone, la sure to be followed by disease. 
Huxley and Youmaiu, I'hysiol., 421). 
7. In patent law, a law of nature, or a general 
property of matter, a rule of abstract science. 
C forge Ticknor Curtis. A principle is not patentahlt-, 
although a process for utilizing a principle may be. Com- 
pare process. 
It is very difficult to distinguish it |thc specification of 
the hot blast furnace for tin-owing hot air into a furnace in- 
stead of coal, thereby Increasing the Intensity of the het| 
from the specification of a patent for a principle, and this 
at first created in the minds of the court much ditnculty ; 
but, after full consideration, we think that the plaintiff 
does not merely claim a principle, but a machine einlxxly- 
Ing a principle, and a very valuable one. We think the 
case must be considered as if, the principle being well 
known, the plaintiff had first invented a mode of applying 
it by a mechanical apparatus to furnaces, and his inven- 
tion then consists in this by interposing a receptacle for 
heated air between the blowing apparatus and the fur- 
nace. Baron Parlce, 8 Meeson <fe W., SOW. 
A principle of human nature, a law of action in human 
beings ; a constitutional propensity common to the human 
species. Archimedean principle. Hue Archimedean. 
Bitter principles, commutative principle, constitu- 
tive principles. See the adjectives. Carnot's princi- 
ple, a highly Important principle of the theory of heat 
namely, that the work done by an engine is proportional 
to the amount of heat used multiplied into the fall of tem- 
perature of that heat In the action of the engine. In the 
mechanical theory of heat, this principle is transformed 
into the second law of thermodynamics. It was discov- 
ered in 1824 by Sadl Carnot (17!K>-1S32), son of the great 
war-minister Carnot. D'Alembert's principle, an im- 
portant principle of mechanics, to the effect that the 
forces impressed upon a mechanical system may be re- 
solved into forces balancing one another perpendicular to 
the motions of the particles and of forces whose direct 
effects would be to make the particles move as they do 
move. Declination of principles. See declination. 
Dlrlchlet's (or Dtrichletian) principle, a certain Im- 
portant proposition concerning the equation 
Distributive principle. See dixtributioe. Doppler's 
principle, in acmwtics, the phenomenon that, when a 
sound-lxxly is rapii.ly approaching the ear, the pitch of the 
sound is raised, because more sound-waves reach the ear 
per second, and conversely if the sounding body recedes. 
This principle is also applied in optics, and the rapidity 
of relative approach or recession of the earth and some of 
the fixed stars has been deduced from it, by the change 
in thecharacterof the light (as to wave-length), as shown by 
the spectroscope, Extractive principle. Same as ex- 
tract,*. First principle, one of the most general prin- 
ciples, not deducible from others. Fruitful principle. 
.See/rutf/i*/. General principle. See general. Helm- 
holtz's principle, the proposition (enunciated by Helm* 
holtz, a German physicist, Iwrn 1821) that if any source of 
light or of sound situated at any point will by the interven- 
tion nf any system of reflectors or lenses produce any given 
intensity of illumination or of sound at any second point, 
tlu'ii the same source being placed at the second point would 
produce the same intensity of radiation at the first point 
Heterogeneous principle, heteronymous principles, 
immanent principle, See the adjectives. Huygens's 
principle, tin- pn.position (enunciated by Christian lluy- 
(ions in H7S) that nm (list in banrc due to waves in any pwt 
of a medium at any instant is that due to the superposi- 
tion of all the tlist in bunco; reaching it at that instant 
from the neijxhlmnng parts uf the ninlium. HypOStatic 
principle, a cfaamioal eK-im-nt. -Material principle. 
See material. Organic principles. Same nsprnxiinatt 
principles (which see, under proximate). Principle of 
4731 
areas, In dynam., the proposition that, if all the external 
forces acting upon a moving system are directed toward 
an axis, the rotation-area for that axis will be described 
with a uniform motion. Principle Of causality. See laic 
o/ causation, under cauxalion. principle of certainty, 
Of coincidence. See certainty, coincidence. Principle 
of conservation of number, in >., the proposition 
that, if there Is a finite number of figures of a given gen- 
eral description subject to certain conditions, then this 
number remains, if Unite, of the same value, however the 
general description lie specialized. For example, If we 
wish to know now many lines can cut four given lino, we 
take four special lines, say two cutting one another and 
two others cutting one another. Then there are evident- 
ly just two lines namely the one through the two points 
of intersection and the one common to the planes of the 
two pairs which cut all the four lines ; and consequently 
the same will be true In all cases where the number re- 
mains Unite. Principle of contradiction. Seem<ro- 
diction Principle of correspondence, In geom., the 
principle that, If the points on a line have an m to n cor- 
respondence with one another, there are m + n points 
which correspond to themselves. There Is also an extension 
to the plane.- Principle of duality, of homogeneity, 
of identity. Sec duality, etc. - Principle of least ac- 
tion, of least constraint See action, constraint Prin- 
ciple of similitude, In dynarn., proposition 32 of section 
7 of the Second Book of Newton's "Prlncipla," namely 
that. If two systems are geometrically similar, and have 
their corresponding masses proportional, and begin to 
move In the same way, in proportional times, they will 
continue to move in the same way, provided the forces are 
proportional to the masses and the linear dimensions, and 
are inversely as the squares of the times. Principle of 
sufficient reason. See reason Principle of the arith- 
metical mean, the proposition that tin- mean of differ- 
ent results of direct observation of a quantity Is the best 
way of combining them. Principle of the composition 
of rotations. See rotation. Principle of the inclined 
Plane, In tnech., same as principle of the parallelogram 
of forces (which sec, under /orce>\ Principle of the 
last multiplier, a certain principle used in the solu- 
tion of dynamical equations. Principle of the lever, 
lllmcch., same as Archimedean principle (a) (which see, 
under Archimedean). Principle of the parallelogram 
of forces. See jne\. -Principle of translation, in 
math., the theorem that all the invariantive properties 
of a ternary form can be represented by the vanishing 
of Invariants and the identical vanishing of covarlants 
contravariants, or mixed forms Principle of virtual 
velocities, see velocity. Reductive, regulative, etc., 
principle. See the adjectives. Short-haul princi- 
ple, the principle that the charge for carrying freight 
should not be lilgher for a shorter than for a longer 
distance. See long haul, under lonyi. The currency 
principle. Sec currency. The principle of excluded 
middle or third. See muldle. Transcendental prin- 
ciple. See transcendental. = Syn. 0. Principle. Itule, 
Precept. "There are no two words in the English lan- 
guage used so confusedly one for the other as the words 
rule and principle. . . . You can make A rule; you cannot 
make A principle; you can lay down a rule; you cannot, 
properly speaking, lay down a principle. It is laid down 
for you. You can establish a rule; you cannot, properly 
s|>eaking, establish a principle. You can only declare it. 
Rules are within your power, principles are not. Yet the 
mass of mankind use the words as if they had exactly simi- 
lar meanings, and choose one or the other as may best 
suit the rhythm of the sentence." (Helps.) A principle 
lies back of both ru/c and precejits; It is a general truth, 
needing Interpretation and application to particular cases. 
From a principle we may deduce rules that we lay impera- 
tively upon ourselves or upon others who are under our 
authority, and precepts that we lay upon those who look 
to us for instruction. It is a principle that "the Sabbath 
was miidc for man " ; details as to the observance of the 
Sabbath would be not principles, but rules, maxims, or 
precepts. See aphorism. 
Christianity is a spirit, not a law ; it Is a set of princi- 
ples, not a set of rules. . . . Christianity consists of prin- 
ciples, but the application of those principles is left to 
every man's Individual conscience. 
F. W. Robertson, Sermons, Marriage and Celibacy. 
Nations pay little regard to ritlr* and maxims calculated 
in their very nature to run counter to the necessities of 
society. A. Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 25. 
Teachers best 
Of moral prudence, with delight received 
In brief sententious precepts, while they treat 
Of fate, and chance, and change in human life. 
Milton, P. It., iv. -',!. 
principle (prin'si-pl), r. t. ; pret. and pp. priu- 
cipled, ppr. principling. [< principle, n.] To 
establisn or fix in certain principles; impress 
with any tenet or belief, whether good or ill: 
used chiefly in the past participle. 
Well did thir Disciples manifest themselves to bee no 
better principfd then thir Teachers. Milton, Hist. Eng.. ill. 
A parliament so principled will sink 
All antient schools of empire in disgrace. 
Young, On Public Affairs. 
We replied, we hoped he would distinguish and make a 
difference between the guilty and the innocent, and be- 
tween those who were principled for fighting and those 
who were principled against it, which we were, and had 
been always known to be so. 
T. KUicood, Life (ed. Howells), p. 263. 
princockt (pring'kok), H. [Also princiu: prinn - 
<</,, etc. ; < prim, prime, + cock 1 .] A coxcomb ; 
a conceited person. 
Your proud university princox think, s he is a man of 
such merit the world cannot sufficiently endow him with 
preferment Itetume/rom Parnassus, III. 2. 
A canalier of the flrst feather, a princocket, ... all to 
be frenchified in his souldionr's snte. 
Xashe, Pierce ivnilesse. p. .,_'. 
print 
And tli. Hi, yong Princai, Puppet as thou art, 
Shalt play no longer thy proud Klngling's Part 
Ypou so rich a stage. 
Sylvester, tr. of 1m Bartas's Weeks, ii.. The Decay. 
princod (priu'kod), n. [< prin* + rodl.] A 
pincushion ; figuratively, a short thick-set wo- 
man. /I a Hi iri II. [Prov. Eng.] 
princumt (pring'kum), n. [An arbitrary var. 
of prink, simulating a L. form. Cf. prinkinu- 
I'l'n nl. inn. \ A scruple; a nice or affected no- 
tion. 
My behaviour may not yoke 
With the nice princums of that folk. 
D'Vrfey, Culm's Walk, I. (Dacies.) 
prine (prin), w. [Of. prini.] Same as pick*, 5. 
pringlet (pring'gl.i, n. A small silver coin, of 
about the value of a penny, formerly current 
in Scotland and in the northern parts of Eng- 
land. Haltiicfll. 
Pringlea (pring'gle-ft). n. [NL. (J. D. Hooker, 
1847). named after Sir John Prfwoi* (1707-89), a 
I '.rii i.-li physician and natural philosopher.] A 
genus of plants of the order t'ruriferte aud tribe 
jlytutiiieir, characterized by its fruit, an oblong 
one-celled silicle, containing very many cordate 
seeds with their outer coat prolonged into a 
short beak, aud by its growth from a thick root- 
stock with ample and compactly imbricated 
loaves. The only species, P. antiscurlaitica, is a cabbage- 
like plant of Kerguelen Land, valuable as a preventive of 
scurvy. The thick round rootstock lies on the ground for 
3 or 4 feet, and bears a single large ball of leaves which 
are loose and green outside, and form a dense white mass 
within. The flower-stalk grows out from below the head 
of leaves, and > caches 2 or 3 feet In height. An essential 
oil pervading the plant gives it a taste resembling a com- 
bination of mustard and cress. 
Prinia (prin'i-ji), . [NL. (Horsfield, 1820), < 
Javanese priiiya, a native name.] A genus of 
grass-warblers or Cisticolte, having a graduated 
tail of only ten rect rices and a long stout bill. 
The numerous species range through the Ethiopian and 
Indian regions. /'. famiUarit of .lava and Sumatra Is the 
type. Also called JJaseocharix and Drymoipus. 
prink 1 (pringk), c. i. [< MK. "prinlccn.preyii- 
ktn; origin obscure.] To look; gaze. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
Tlnuine Conscience curtefsliche a contenaunce he made, 
And preyntc vpon I'aclence to preie me to be stllle. 
Piers 1'lowman (H), xiil. 112. 
prink' 2 (pringk), f. [A weaker form at prank, to 
which it is related as clink to clank, etc. : see 
prank. Cf. prick, r., in like sense.] I. iiitrtinx. 
1. To pi'Hiik; dress for show; adorn one's self. 
Or womans wfl (perhappes) 
F.nflamde hir haughtlc harto 
To get more grace by crummes of cost, 
And princke it out hlr parte. 
(JoKtiiyne, 1'hllomene (ed. Arber), p. OS. 
They whopriii*, and pamper the Body, and neglect the 
Soul are like one who, having a Nightingale In his House, 
is more fond of the Wicker Cage than of the Bird. 
UoiceO, Letters, Iv. 21. 
Hold a good wager she was every day longer printing 
in the glass than you was. Jane Collier. 
2. To strut; put on pompous airs; be preten- 
tious or forward. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. trans. To deck; adorn; dress ostenta- 
tiously or fantastically. 
She prinlr'd hersell and prinn'd hersell. 
By the ae light of the moon. 
The Youmj Tamlane (Child's Ballads, I. 118). 
To gather kingcups in the yellow mead, 
And priii* their hair with daisies. 
Coirper, Task, vl. 803. 
Ay, prune thy feathers, and prill* thyself gay. 
Scott, Monastery, xxlv. 
It is ... a most perilous seduction for a popular poet 
like Burns to print the unadorned simplicity of his plough- 
man's Muse with the glittering spangles and curious lace- 
work of a highly polished literary style. 
Prof. Blackie, Lang, and Lit. of Scottish Highlands, lit 
prinker (priug'ker), H. One who prinks; one 
who dresses with much care. 
prinkle (pring'kl). r. '.; pret. and pp. prinkletl, 
ppr. pi-inkling. [Appar. a nasalized form of 
prickle.'] To tingle or prickle. [Scotch.] 
My blnde ran priiMin' through my veins, . . . 
As I beheld my dear, O. 
Hogg, Mountain Bard, p. 200. (Jainieton.) 
prinkle (pring'kl), w. The coalfish. [Local, 
Eng.] 
prinkum-prankum (pring ' kum -prang ' kum), 
n. [A redupl. of prink 2 or prank, simulating a 
L. form. Cf. priiiciim.] A kind of dance. 
What dance? 
No wanton jig. I hope; no dance is lawful 
But Prinkum-Pranlcum ! 
Randolph, Muses Looking-glass, v. 1. (Dariet.) 
prinpriddle (prin'prid'l), w. The long-tailed 
titmouse, Acredula rosea. [Cornwall, Eug.] 
print (print), r. [< ME. *priui<-n. /<o *h n. /ireeii- 
/' n. print (= D. prcntcii, imprint, = MLG. ; 
