principal - Definition | Dictionary definition of principal

Definition of principal

Adjectives

most important element

"the principal rivers of America"

"the principal example"

Synonyms:: chief, main, master, primary; important, of import
of great significance or value

Nouns

the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

Type of:: debt
money or goods or services owed by one person to another

the educator who has executive authority for a school

"she sent unruly pupils to see the principal"

Synonyms:: head, head teacher, school principal

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; chancellor
the honorary or titular head of a university; headmaster, master, schoolmaster
presiding officer of a school; housemaster
teacher in charge of a school boardinghouse; headmistress
a woman headmaster

Type of:: educator, pedagog, pedagogue
someone who educates young people

an actor who plays a principal role

Synonyms:: lead, star

Types:: show 5 types...; hide 5 types...; co-star
one of two actors who are given equal status as stars in a play or film; film star, movie star
a star who plays leading roles in the cinema; idol, matinee idol
someone who is adored blindly and excessively; heartthrob
an object of infatuation; TV star, television star
a star in a television show

Type of:: actor, histrion, player, role player, thespian
a theatrical performer

capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

Synonyms:: corpus, principal sum

Type of:: capital
wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value

(criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement

Examples:: show 16 examples...; hide 16 examples...; William H. Bonney
United States outlaw who was said to have killed 21 men (1859-1881); Jesse James
United States outlaw who fought as a Confederate soldier and later led a band of outlaws that robbed trains and banks in the West until he was murdered by a member of his own gang (1847-1882); Robert MacGregor
Scottish clan leader and outlaw who was the subject of a 1817 novel by Sir Walter Scott (1671-1734); Guy Fawkes
English conspirator who was executed for his role in a plot to blow up James I and the Houses of Parliament (1570-1606); Titus Oates
English conspirator who claimed that there was a Jesuit plot to assassinate Charles II (1649-1705); Alphonse Capone
United States gangster who terrorized Chicago during prohibition until arrested for tax evasion (1899-1947); Jack the Ripper
an unidentified English murderer in the 19th century; John Wilkes Booth
United States actor and assassin of President Lincoln (1838-1865); Lee Harvey Oswald
United States assassin of President John F. Kennedy (1939-1963); Dick Turpin
English highwayman (1706-1739); Jean Laffite
French pirate who aided the United States in the War of 1812 and received an official pardon for his crimes (1780-1826); Sir Henry Morgan
a Welsh buccaneer who raided Spanish colonies in the West Indies for the English (1635-1688); Bartholomew Roberts
a Welsh pirate credited with having taken more than 400 ships (1682-1722); Edward Thatch
an English pirate who operated in the Caribbean and off the Atlantic coast of North America (died in 1718); Khayr ad-Din
Barbary pirate (died in 1546); Benedict Arnold
United States general and traitor in the American Revolution; in 1780 his plan to surrender West Point to the British was foiled (1741-1801)

Types:: show 28 types...; hide 28 types...; criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw
someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime; accessary, accessory
someone who helps another person commit a crime; arsonist, firebug, incendiary
a criminal who illegally sets fire to property; blackmailer, extortioner, extortionist
a criminal who extorts money from someone by threatening to expose embarrassing information about them; bootlegger, moonshiner
someone who makes or sells illegal liquor; briber, suborner
someone who pays (or otherwise incites) you to commit a wrongful act; coconspirator, conspirator, machinator, plotter
a member of a conspiracy; desperado, desperate criminal
a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier); fugitive, fugitive from justice
someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice; gangster, mobster
a criminal who is a member of gang; highbinder
a corrupt politician; highjacker, hijacker
someone who uses force to take over a vehicle (especially an airplane) in order to reach an alternative destination; goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, strong-armer, thug, tough, toughie
an aggressive and violent young criminal; gaolbird, jail bird, jailbird
a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly; abductor, kidnaper, kidnapper, snatcher
someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom); mafioso
a member of the Mafia crime syndicate in the United States; gangster's moll, gun moll, moll
the girlfriend of a gangster; liquidator, manslayer, murderer
a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being); parolee, probationer
someone released on probation or on parole; drug dealer, drug peddler, drug trafficker, peddler, pusher
an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs; racketeer
someone who commits crimes for profit (especially one who obtains money by fraud or extortion); raper, rapist
someone who forces another to have sexual intercourse; habitual criminal, recidivist, repeater
someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior); scofflaw
one who habitually ignores the law and does not answer court summonses; contrabandist, moon curser, moon-curser, runner, smuggler
someone who imports or exports without paying duties; stealer, thief
a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it; traitor, treasonist
someone who betrays his country by committing treason; law offender, lawbreaker, violator
someone who violates the law