principle

1. n. Beginning; commencement. Source: opted

2. n. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause. Source: opted

3. n. An original faculty or endowment. Source: opted

4. n. A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate. Source: opted

5. n. A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle. Source: opted

6. n. Any original inherent constituent which characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential properties, and which can usually be separated by analysis; -- applied especially to drugs, plant extracts, etc. Source: opted

7. v. t. To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet, or rule of conduct, good or ill. Source: opted

8. n. a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct Source: wordnet

9. n. a rule or standard especially of good behavior Source: wordnet

10. n. a basic truth or law or assumption Source: wordnet

11. n. a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system Source: wordnet

12. n. rule of personal conduct Source: wordnet

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