Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
adj
Having a beginning; of or constituting a beginning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
The product of a principle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To begin; to initiate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
The verb is first attested in 1613, the adjective in 1654; borrowed from Late Latin prī̆ncipiātus, perfect passive participle of prī̆ncipiō (“to begin to speak, commence”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Latin prī̆ncipium (“beginning, origin; foundation, principle”). With use as noun, compare Latin prī̆ncipiātum (“derivative of a first principle”).
