principium

See also: princípium

Latin

Etymology

From prī̆nceps (“first, foremost”) +‎ -ium (“suffix forming abstract nouns”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /priːnˈki.pi.um/, [priːŋˈkɪpiʊ̃ˑ] or IPA^(key): /prinˈki.pi.um/, [prɪŋˈkɪpiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /prinˈt͡ʃi.pi.um/, [prin̠ʲˈt͡ʃiːpium]
• See the note at prī̆nceps for the length of the vowel in the first syllable.

Noun

prī̆ncipium n (genitive prī̆ncipiī or prī̆ncipī); second declension

1. a beginning, an origin, a commencement

   Synonyms: initium, exordium, prīmōrdium, orīgō, rudīmentum, limen

   Antonym: fīnis

   • [90-110], [John] Iōannēs, Biblia [Bible], volume Novum Testāmentum [New Testament] (canonical gospel), Ēvangelium secundum Iōannem [Gospel according to John], chapter 1, verse 1, lines 1–3:

     In prīncipiō erat Verbum,
     et Verbum erat apud Deum
     et Deus erat Verbum.

     In the beginning was the Word,
     the Word was with God
     and the Word was God.

     (literally, “In the beginning was the Word,
     the Word was with God
     and God was the Word”)

2. a groundwork, a foundation, a principle
3. (in the plural) the elements, the first principles
4. (military, in the plural) the front ranks, camp headquarters

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	prī̆ncipium	prī̆ncipia
genitive	prī̆ncipiī prī̆ncipī1	prī̆ncipiōrum
dative	prī̆ncipiō	prī̆ncipiīs
accusative	prī̆ncipium	prī̆ncipia
ablative	prī̆ncipiō	prī̆ncipiīs
vocative	prī̆ncipium	prī̆ncipia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• prī̆ncipiālis

Descendants

• → Asturian: principiu
• → Catalan: principi
• → Galician: principio
• → Italian: principio
• → Old French: principe
  • French: principe
    • → Danish: princip
    • → Dutch: principe
      • Afrikaans: prinsipe
      • → Indonesian: prinsip
      • → West Frisian: prinsipe
    • → Norwegian Bokmål: prinsipp
    • → Norwegian Nynorsk: prinsipp
    • → Turkish: prensip
  • → Middle English: principle
    • English: principle
• → Portuguese: princípio
• → Romanian: principiu
• → Spanish: principio

Adjective

prī̆ncipium

1. genitive plural of prī̆nceps

See also

• Principia Philosophiae on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la

References

• “principium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “principium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "principium", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• principium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the elements: elementa; initia or principia rerum
    
  • to start from false premises: a falsis principiis proficisci