principle has definitions from the field of psychology
1
[ noun ] a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct

Synonyms

rule

Examples

"their principles of composition characterized all their works"

Used in print

(Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)

The architects do not believe that the education of the interior_designer is sufficiently good or sufficiently extended to compare with that of the architect and that , therefore , the interior_designer is incapable of understanding the architectural principles involved in planning the interior of a building .

(Handbook of Federal Aids to Communities. U.S. Dep...)

Through the SBA 's Management_Counseling_Program , practical , personalized advice on sound management principles is available upon request to both prospective and established businessmen in a community .

(Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)

At_the_least , however , one may conclude that Geometric potters sensed a logical order ; their principles of composition stand very close to those which appear in the Homeric epics and the hexameter line .

On this principle of division I must postpone the evolution of sculpture , architecture , society , and politics ; for the developments in these areas make_sense only if they are connected to the age of revolution itself .

The severe yet harmonious vases of the previous fifty years , the Strong Geometric style of the late ninth century , display as firm a mastery of the principles underlying Geometric pottery ; but artists now were ready to refine and elaborate their inheritance .

2
[ noun ] a rule or standard especially of good behavior

Examples

: "a man of principle" "he will not violate his principles"

Used in print

("Editorials"...)

In all the bitter in-fighting , the squabbles over election procedures , the complicated numbers_game that East and West played on the assistant secretaries ' theme , the gentleman from Burma showed himself both as a man of principle and a skilled diplomat .

(S. Idell Pyle, et al., Onsets, Completions, and...)

The principles used in making each arrow for Figures 3 and 4 were applied to the construction of Figures 5 and 6 as_well_as all figures in the Appendix .

(Joyce O. Hertzler, American Social Institutions;...)

Religion usually also includes a principle of compensation , mainly in a promised perfect future state .

(John Michael Ray, "Rhode Island's Reactions...)

During the Dorr trial the Democratic press condemned the proceedings and heralded Dorr as a martyr to the principles of the Declaration_of_Independence .

The Providence_Daily_Journal answered the Daily_Post by stating that the raid of John_Brown was characteristic of Democratic acts of violence and that `` He was acting in direct opposition to the Republican_Party , who proclaim as one of their cardinal principles that they do not interfere with slavery in the states '' .

3
[ noun ] a basic truth or law or assumption

Examples

: "the principles of democracy"

Used in print

(Gibson Winter, The Suburban Captivity of the...)

The vulnerability of Protestantism to social differences stems from the peculiar role of the new religious style in middle-class life , where the congregation is a vehicle of social and economic group identity and must conform , therefore , to the principle of economic integration .

The expense of_this type of organization in religious life , when one recalls the number of city churches which deteriorated beyond repair before being abandoned , raises fundamental questions about the principle of Protestant survival in a mobile society ; nonetheless , the prevalence of economic integration in congregations illumines the nature of the Protestant development .

(John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)

But Aristotle kept the principle of levels and even augmented it by describing in the Poetics what kinds of character and action must be imitated if the play is to be a vehicle of serious and important human truths .

(The Department of State: A Fresh Look at the...)

He will not be surprised to find that general principles produce conflicting results in the factual situation with which he is confronted .

He must think_about which of these principles must take precedence .

4
[ noun ] a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system

Synonyms

rule

Examples

: "the principle of the conservation of mass" "the principle of jet propulsion" "the right-hand rule for inductive fields"

Used in print

(Mr. America, 4:6...)

And they could n't have entrusted Henri to better hands because `` le_professeur '' knows his muscles from the sterno-cleido_mastoideus of the neck right down to the tibialis_anticus of the leg - and better still , he knows just what exercises work best for them and what Weider principles to combine them with for fast , fast muscle growth .

(E. Gellhorn, "Prolegomena to a theory of the emotions"...)

He then applied this principle of reciprocal inhibition to human neuroses .

5
[ noun ] rule of personal conduct

Synonyms

precept

Used in print

(Organic Gardening and Farming,...)

They stick_to their principles , insist upon their due , but grow and bloom with dependable regularity if given it .

(David Stacton, The Judges of the Secret Court....)

In the audience a man named Ferguson lost his head and tried to rescue a little girl from the mob , on the same principle which had led Miss_Harris to demand water .

6
[ noun ] (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature)

Synonyms

rationale

Examples

"the rationale for capital punishment" "the principles of internal-combustion engines"

Used in print

(Schubert Ogden, Christ Without Myth....)

To do this , it is sufficient to point_out that if the principle in_terms_of which alternatives are to be conceived is such_as to exclude more_than two , then the question of a `` third '' possibility is a meaningless question .

Related terms

explanation dialectics law

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