3.47: Principal / Principle
- Page ID
- 90478
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These two terms are often confused, but the fact is they have no meanings in common. “Principal” means “first, primary, or main”:
The principal feldspar is orthoclase.
“Principle” implies an abstraction, and it means “a doctrine,” “a truth”:
MAN01 teaches basic management principles.
“Principal,” of course, also denotes the head of a school, and in some fields, “principal” has specialized meaning: in law, a principal empowers another to act as his or her representative; in finance, the principal is the capital of a financial holding as distinguished from the interest.