principium

See also: princípium

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) 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).

Case 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

Descendants

Adjective

prī̆ncipium

  1. genitive plural of prī̆nceps

See also

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
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