principal

Forms

principal m or f (plural principais)^[1] Medieval texts also write prinçipal; a letter of 1500 has primcipall.^[2][3] A dialect form princepal was recorded in Portugal in 1970.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prīncipālis (“first, original; chief”), a learned word.^[5][6][1][7] Houaiss and Cunha date it to the 13th century.^[5][6] Houaiss and the OLD derive the Latin adjective from princeps (“first; chief, leader”) with the suffix -ālis, while Wiktionary derives it from prīncipium (“beginning”).^[5][8][1] The OLD analyses the noun as prīmus (“first”) with the second element -ceps.^[9]

The same Latin word is Galician principal, Spanish principal, Catalan principal, French principal, Italian principale and Romanian principal.^[1] French has it from 1080.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

R. Lorenzo's chronology cites the Crónica Geral on “one of the main things through which the Moors lost Valencia” (hũa das cousas principaes por que os mouros perderõ Valença) and the chronicle of 1344 on a causa principal “the main cause”; the Crónica Troiana has seys portas prinçipaes “six main gates”.^[2] The first sense is “first in rank or importance, chief”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the adjective as what holds the first place among things or is most worthy of esteem, and records the noun o principal, the capital of a sum or debt as opposed to its interest.^[11] Folqman (1755) has as pessoas principaes de huma Cidade for its leading citizens, and Morais (1789) adds the noblest or richest of a town, as in João de Barros, and the senior prelate of a patriarchal church.^[12][13]

Later dictionaries add technical uses: the main clause of a sentence in grammar, the leading part of a symphony in music, and a heavenly body around which a satellite turns.^[14][15][1] As a noun it names the superior of a religious community or a college, a chief, and in finance the principal of a loan.^[16][15]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record.^[5][6]
• 14th century – principaes in the Crónica Geral, and a causa principal in the chronicle of 1344.^[2]
• c. 1380–1425 – in a fragment of a Flos Sanctorum.^[17]
• 1500 – primcipall in a letter.^[3]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin primarius.^[18]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the noun for the capital of a debt.^[11]
• 1789 – Morais records os principaes of a town.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the highest rank in society; noble, important, rich: as famílias principais da vila.^[5][13]
2. main, principal: first or most important of a group; fundamental, essential (essencial).^[5][15][1]
3. Largest, highest or most numerous: o principal rio do país.^[5]
4. Of greatest economic or strategic importance.^[5]
5. (astronomy) Of a heavenly body that has another orbiting it.^[15][1]
6. (grammar) Of a clause that has other clauses subordinate to it: oração principal.^[14][1]
7. (music) Of the leading part of a symphony.^[14]

Noun

1. The most important thing: O principal é chegar a horas.^[16][19]
2. The superior of a religious community or a college.^[16][15][1]
3. A chief (chefe), head.^[15]
4. (finance) The capital of a loan or investment, as distinct from the interest.^[15][16][11]

Word family

• principalmente

Related words

• príncipe
• princípio
• Latin prīncipālis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. principal
3. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. principal
4. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. principal
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. principal
6. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. principal
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. principal
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. principālis
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. princeps
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. principal
11. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. principal
12. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. principal
13. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 245
14. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. principal
15. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. principal
16. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. principal
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. principal
18. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. principal
19. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. principal