Definition of: principal

(prin′sə·pəl) adjective
First in rank, character, or importance; chief. See synonyms under FIRST, PARAMOUNT.
—noun
1. One who takes a leading part; one concerned directly and not as an auxiliary; one who is a leader or chief in some action.
2. Law a The actor in a crime, or one present aiding and abetting. b The employer of one who acts as an agent. c One primarily liable for whom another has become surety. d The most important thing, or part of a given property, to which other things or parts are incidental. e The capital or body of an estate.
3. One who is at the head of some body; a chief; one in authority; a presiding officer, as of a society.
4. The head teacher or master in a public or private school.
5. The chief executive of some colleges and universities in Great Britain.
6. Property or capital, as opposed to interest or income.
7. A rafter extending to the ridge pole; a principal rafter.
8. Music a The chief metal organ stop, an octave higher in pitch than the other diapasons. b The subject of a fugue: distinguished from answer. See synonyms under CHIEF, MASTER. ♦ Homophone: principle. [<F <L principalis <princeps chief]
—prin′ci·pal·ly adverb
—prin′ci·pal·ship′ noun