Principle

prin′si-pl, n. a fundamental truth on which others are founded or from which they spring: a law or doctrine from which others are derived: an original faculty of the mind: a settled rule of action: ( chem. ) a constituent part: ( obs. ) a beginning.— v.t. to establish in principles: to impre with a doctrine.— adj. Prin′cipled , holding certain principles.— Principle of contradiction , the logical principle that a thing cannot both be and not be; Principle of excluded middle ( logic ), the principle that a thing must be either one thing or its contradictory; Principle of sufficient reason (see Reason ).— First principle , a very general principle not deducible from others. [L. principium , beginning— princeps .]