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"principle" in seven languages

Meaningprinciple

Spanish

principio

/pɾinˈθipjo/

masc.learned

Also 'beginning': al principio 'at first'.

French

principe

/pʁɛ̃sip/

masc.learned

Italian

principio

/prinˈtʃipjo/

masc.learned

Also 'beginning'; don't confuse it with principe 'prince'.

Portuguese

princípio

/pɾĩˈsipju/

masc.learned

Romanian

principiu

/prinˈtʃipju/

neut.learned

Catalan

principi

/pɾinˈsipi/

masc.learned

English

principle

/ˈpɹɪnsəpəl/

from Latin/French · Old French principe, from Latin PRĪNCIPIUM

English → ItalianprincipleprincipioCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PRĪNCIPIUM‘beginning, first place’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

PRĪNCIPIUM was the first thing, the starting point; principles are the first things everything else rests on. Spanish and Italian still use the word for 'beginning'.

English relatives: principal, prince

Sound laws at work

C before E and I

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In a sentence

  • esEs una cuestión de principios.
  • frC'est une question de principe.
  • itÈ una questione di principio.
  • ptÉ uma questão de princípios.
  • roE o chestiune de principiu.
  • caÉs una qüestió de principis.
  • enIt's a matter of principle.

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