Where does “principle” come from?
Principle comes from Old French principe, from Latin principium, a noun formed with the suffix -ium from capio meaning to take or seize.
principle (English): A fundamental assumption or guiding belief; A...
Definitions
- A fundamental assumption or guiding belief; A...
Ancestry of “principle”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | prīncipium | a beginning, an origin, a commencement |
| 2 | Latin | prīnceps | first, foremost |
| 3 | Latin | primoceps | — |
| 4 | Latin | capiō | to take, to capture, to catch, to seize, to take captive, to storm |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | kapiō | take |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | kapjō | take, seize |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kh₂pyéti | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | keh₂p- | to seize, grab; to seize; take up; lift; to take,... |