Definition of "principium" []

• A principle, especially a basic one. (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.

• "Although principium is Latin for beginning, principis means prince or leader."
• "Lucas, This dictionary Web site suggests that a similar but different word -- "principium" -- is a Latin word for "beginning," not "principum."
• "The word, derived from the Latin "principium", meaning a foundation, beginning, source, origin, or cause, has, because a cause implies an effect, acquired in correct usage the significance of a true statement of relationship between cause and effect."