the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
<noun.possession>
the educator who has executive authority for a school
<noun.person> she sent unruly pupils to see the principal
an actor who plays a principal role
<noun.person>
capital as contrasted with the income derived from it
<noun.possession>
(criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement
<noun.person>
the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account
<noun.person> [ adj ]
most important element
<adj.all> 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
Principal \Prin"ci*pal\, n. 1. A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; -- distinguished from a {subordinate}, {abettor}, {auxiliary}, or {assistant}.
2. Hence: (Law) (a) The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, -- as distinguished from an accessory. (b) A chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, -- as distinguished from a surety. (c) One who employs another to act for him, -- as distinguished from an agent. --Wharton. --Bouvier. --Burrill.
3. A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous. Specifically: (a) (Com.) A capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; -- so called in distinction from interest or profit. (b) (Arch. & Engin.) The construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, -- generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing. (c) (Mus.) In English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason. (d) (O. Eng. Law) A heirloom; a mortuary. --Cowell. (e) pl. The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing. --Spenser. --J. H. Walsh. (f) One of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned. --Oxf. Gloss. (g) A principal or essential point or rule; a principle. [Obs.]
Principal \Prin"ci*pal\, a. [F., from L. principalis. See {Prince}.] 1. Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case.
Wisdom is the principal thing. --Prov. iv. 7.
2. Of or pertaining to a prince; princely. [A Latinism] [Obs.] --Spenser.
{Principal axis}. See {Axis of a curve}, under {Axis}.
{Principal axes of a quadric} (Geom.), three lines in which the principal planes of the solid intersect two and two, as in an ellipsoid.
{Principal challenge}. (Law) See under {Challenge}.
{Principal plane}. See {Plane of projection} (a), under {Plane}.
{Principal of a quadric} (Geom.), three planes each of which is at right angles to the other two, and bisects all chords of the quadric perpendicular to the plane, as in an ellipsoid.
{Principal point} (Persp.), the projection of the point of sight upon the plane of projection.
{Principal ray} (Persp.), the line drawn through the point of sight perpendicular to the perspective plane.
{Principal section} (Crystallog.), a plane passing through the optical axis of a crystal.
When he finishes his secondary education, Vicente will receive the principal in the fund, which could be put toward college or starting a business.
But it is evident he is the principal political and military strategist of the group.
They needed little persuasion, he says, to see the advantages of closer cross-border collaboration. A year ago, he set up eight 'core teams', covering KGFE's principal product categories and the main marketing functions.
Fixed annuities traditionally have been regarded as insurance contracts because investors never risk their principal.
The Official Unionist party (OUP) is sending a 10-strong team to Dublin, and was sharply critical of the DUP at the weekend. Mr Ken McGinnis, the principal OUP negotiator, said: 'There were certain undertakings made by all parties in this process.
Under terms of the plan, the company would exchange up to $530 million in principal amount of outstanding debt for new debt securities and common stock.
"Our level of confidence will drive how big a bet we'll make," says Kenneth Gregory, a principal in the firm.
The problem, said Mr. Rittereiser, was that brochures used to sell the product created the impression that the bonds always would sell at par, suggesting that there was little risk to principal.
The disposition of Warner's shares in BHC, Chris-Craft's principal broadcasting subsidiary, was one of the principal issues in a lawsuit Chris-Craft filed against Warner in Delaware chancery court.
The disposition of Warner's shares in BHC, Chris-Craft's principal broadcasting subsidiary, was one of the principal issues in a lawsuit Chris-Craft filed against Warner in Delaware chancery court.
Dr. Gray is principal author of the study in today's New England Journal of Medicine.
The Enaf-Vinto metallurgical smelter complex just east of Oruro, is close to Bolivia's principal tin mines, Huanuni and Colquiri, owned by the state mining company Comibol.
Investors in the 111 West Washington Street Association Ltd. partnership had each put in $150,000 in principal and about $52,000 in interest for each unit.
He is the great-grandson of a German boatbuilder who came to Macquarie Harbour in the 1890s to build ships of the magnificent local Huon pine. Boat-building became one of the principal activities at Sarah Island.
The U.S. government contribution will consist of a guarantee for those loans: if the Soviets fail to repay in three years, the United States would pay the banks 98 percent of the principal and about half the interest.
The company said it may limit its purchases to $20 million principal amount tendered, subject to proration.
People hear about it," appropriately, "by word-of-mouth." The court continued to allow CMS to use the current earnings on the approximately $1.2 billion principal amount of notes it holds.
Until the crisis, Moscow had been Baghdad's principal arms supplier.
Mr. Waigel said the fund's interest service and principal will be borne equally by the federal and state governments, both of which could face interest service reaching 4.75 billion marks a year by 1995.
Under current ethics rules of the institute, the industry's principal professional group, accountants can only charge hourly fees for such advice and cannot accept any contingency fees or commissions.
Also Wednesday, U.S.-backed Angolan rebels fighting the Marxist government said they captured a town on the Benguela railroad, the principal route for transporting minerals from Zaire, Zambia and eastern Angola to the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito.
The city's school board has upheld a five-day suspension of Principal Joe Clark by a 7-1 vote, with the dissenting vote from a commissioner who wanted the flamboyant principal dismissed.
His prospective reassignment as the Soviet ambassador to Washington is part of a revamping of the principal overseas assignments in the Soviet foreign service.
Lead's principal use is in automotive batteries; zinc is widely used for castings in autos and as an ingredient in galvanized steel for construction materials and rust-resistant automotive body panels, among other uses.
The justices said they will decide whether people who intervene in civil rights cases _ and are not the principal defendants _ may be forced to reimburse the lawyer fees incurred by those who successfully sue.
The trouble is that the sector's principal appeals hardly apply to Hammerson.
The spokesman said the decision was not officials but was agreed to in principal by a government committee.
The principal must be marked down to reflect secondary market valuations."
Robert Eicher, a principal with Foster Higgins, says he has seen some managed-care plans in which savings from negotiated discounts were wiped out when doctors started billing for additional services.
Stella Sablan reported to Cupertino High School at 8:30 a.m. Monday and was sent to the principal's office.