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 impress 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.]
Princock, prin′kok, n. (Shak.) a conceited fellow: a coxcomb.—Also Prin′cox.
Prink, pringk, v.t. to adorn ostentatiously.—n. Prink′er. [Weakened from prank.]
Print, print, v.t. to press or impress: to mark by pressure: to impress letters on paper, &c.: to publish: (phot.) to produce a positive picture from a negative.—v.i. to practise the art of printing: to publish a book.—n. a mark or character made by impression: the impression of types in general: a copy: a printed picture: an engraving: a newspaper: a printed cloth: calico stamped with figures: that which impresses its form on anything: a cut, in wood or metal: (archit.) a plaster-cast in low relief.—ns. Print′er, one who prints, esp. books, newspapers, &c.; Print′ing, act, art, or practice of printing; Print′ing-ink, ink used in printing; Print′ing-machine′, a printing-press worked by machinery; Print′ing-off′ice, an establishment where books, &c., are printed; Print′ing-pā′per, a paper suitable for printing purposes; Print′ing-press, a machine by which impressions are taken in ink upon paper from types.—adj. Print′less, receiving or leaving no impression.—ns. Print′-sell′er, one who sells prints or engravings; Print′-shop, a shop where prints are sold; Print′-works, an establishment where cloth is printed.—Printer's devil (see Devil); Printer's ink (same as Printing-ink); Printer's mark, an engraved device used by printers as a trade-mark.—In print, published in printed form: in stock, as opposed to books which cannot now be got—Out of print. [Shortened from O. Fr. empreindre, empreint—L. imprimĕre—in, into, premĕre, to press.]
Prior, prī′or, adj. former: previous: coming before in time.—n. the head of a priory: (in Italy) formerly a chief magistrate:—fem. Prī′oress.—ns. Prī′orāte, Prī′orship, the government or office of a prior: the time during which a prior is in office; Prior′ity, state of being prior or first in time, place, or rank: preference; Prī′ory, a convent of either sex, under a prior or prioress, and next in rank below an abbey. [L. prior, former, comp. from pro-, in front.]
Prisage, prī′zāj, n. formerly a right of the English kings to seize for crown purposes, esp. that of taking two tuns of wine from every ship importing twenty tuns or more. [O. Fr.,—prise, taking.]
Prise, prīz, n. (Spens.) an enterprise or adventure.
Priser, prīz′ėr, n. (Shak.). Same as Prizer.
Prism, prizm, n. (geom.) a solid whose ends are similar, equal, and parallel planes, and whose sides are parallelograms: (opt.) a solid glass, triangular-shaped body, used for resolving rays of light into their separate colours.—adjs. Prismat′ic, -al, resembling or pertaining to a prism: separated or formed by a prism.—adv. Prismat′ically.—ns. Pris′matoid, Pris′moid, a figure in the form of a prism.—adjs. Pris′matoidal, Pris′moidal; Pris′my, prismatic in colour. [L.,—Gr. prisma, -atos.]
Prison, priz′n, n. a building for the confinement of criminals, &c.: a jail: any place of confinement.—v.t. to shut in prison, restrain.—n.pl. Pris′on-bars, whatever confines or restrains.—ns. Pris′oner, one arrested or confined in prison: a captive; Pris′oner's-, Pris′on-base, a game among boys, in which those who are caught in a certain way are confined as prisoners—a corr. of prison-bars; Pris′on-fē′ver, typhus-fever; Pris′on-house, place of confinement; Pris′onment (Shak.), confinement in a prison—usually imprisonment; Pris′on-ship; Pris′on-van, a closed conveyance for carrying prisoners.—State prisoner, one confined for a political offence in a state prison. [Fr.,—L. prensio, -onis, for prehensio, a seizing—prehendĕre, -hensum, to seize.]