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Definition of "principality" [prin•ci•pal•i•ty]

  • A territory ruled by a prince or princess or from which such a title is derived. (noun)
  • The position, authority, or jurisdiction of a prince or princess; sovereignty. (noun)
  • Christianity The seventh of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology. Also called princedoms. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "principality" in a sentence
  • "Highness to rule save a tract so small that the word principality will be a travesty and a jest."
  • "106 † Antioch, 107 whose situation had been less exposed to the calamities of the holy war, was finally occupied and ruined by Bondocdar, or Bibars, sultan of Egypt and Syria; the Latin principality was extinguished; and the first seat of the Christian name was dispeopled by the slaughter of seventeen, and the captivity of one hundred, thousand of her inhabitants."
  • "Silver is described as a principality (or series of principalities?), so is it logical that our intrepid heroes can ride through one "district" in a day?"