Etymologically
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principale

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Pronunciation

  • /prin.t͡ʃiˈpa.le/[1]

Forms

principale m or f by sense (plural principali, superlative principalissimo, adverb principalmente)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin principālis (“first, chief”), a learned word, from prīnceps (“first; chief”), the source of principe.[2][3][4][1] In Late Latin “principālis” was also a noun, the head of a body of officials.[2][5][6] The same word is French principal and Spanish principal.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Bono Giamboni's Vizi e virtù (before 1292), with the sense “first in rank, importance or authority”;[2][4][3][7] GRADIT and Nocentini date the word to the mid-13th century, and Zingarelli gives 1065, probably for a Latin text.[2][4][3][7] Old forms include prencipale and princepale.[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used principale for the chief person of a group, and in law for the principal debtor as against a guarantor;[8][2][9] principalmente “above all” appears in Giordano da Pisa (1303–1306).[8][2][9] The noun il principale, the owner of a shop or firm for whom others work, is recorded from Agnolo Pandolfini (before 1446) or Leon Battista Alberti (before 1472).[2] Manzoni uses i principali for the leading men of a town.[4][7]

In grammar proposizione principale, or la principale, is the main clause; in music the principale is the main stop of the organ; and in 18th- and 19th-century stagecraft it was a backcloth painted with part of the scene.[4][7][10]

Timeline

  • Mid-13th century – Principale is first recorded.[3][4]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “first in importance”.[2]
  • 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa has principalmente.[2]
  • Before 1446 – Pandolfini uses principale for an employer.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. main, principal: most important, first in value: Il motivo principale della sua partenza è il lavoro.[4][11][5]
  2. Of a place, the largest or busiest: la piazza principale del paese.[4][11][5]
  3. Of a person, the most prominent or authoritative: i principali pittori del Seicento.[4][11]
  4. (grammar) Proposizione principale: the main clause.[7][10][5]

Noun

  1. (colloquial) The boss, the employer in a shop or office: Devo chiedere al principale se posso uscire prima.[4][5][10]
  2. (literary) A person of great authority, (obsolete) a military commander.[4][7]
  3. The main thing: Il principale è non perdere la calma.[4][7][12]
  4. (music) The principal stop of the organ.[7][10]

Word family

  • principalmente
  • principalità

Usage notes

As a noun for the employer the masculine il principale is also used of a woman.[5][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3082
  10. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli