principal

1. 1.

   the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

   Broaderdebt

   Part ofloan
2. 2.

   the educator who has executive authority for a school

   “she sent unruly pupils to see the principal”

   Synonymsschool principalhead teacherhead

   Broadereducator

   Narrowerchancellorheadmasterheadmistress
3. 3.

   an actor who plays a principal role

   Synonymsstarlead

   Broaderactor

   Narrowerco-starfilm staridoltelevision star
4. 4.

   capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

   Synonymscorpusprincipal sum

   Broadercapital
5. 5.

   (criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement

   Broaderwrongdoer

   Narrowercriminal

   criminal law

6. 6.

   the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

   Synonymsdealer

   Broaderfinancier

   Narrowerbroker-dealer

1. 1.

   most important element

   “the chief aim of living”

   “the main doors were of solid glass”

   “the principal rivers of America”

   “the principal example”

   “policemen were primary targets”

   “the master bedroom”

   “a master switch”

   Synonymschiefmainprimarymaster

   Similarimportant

Other forms of principal

plural

principals·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about principal

What does principal mean?

principal means "the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in principal?

principal has 3 syllables: prin-ci-pal. The stress falls on "prin". In IPA it is /ˈpɹɪnsəpəl/.

What is another word for principal?

Close synonyms include school principal, head teacher, head, star, lead. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is principal a common word?

principal is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with principal?

1 word rhymes with principal. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.