principe French · revision 38641

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century, Prise d'Orange|origins=la prīnceps}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /pʁɛ̃.sip/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''principe''' ''m'' (plural principes)^(Wiktionary)

+ First written [[m|fro|principle]] (late 12th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|prīncipium|t=beginning; origin, foundation, (plural) first principles, elements]], derived from [[m|la|prīnceps|t=first; chief]], the source of [[prince]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 393a) Wiktionary treats the word as inherited from Old French [[m|fro|principe]].^(Wiktionary) In Latin the noun was also a military term for the front line of an army.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found at the end of the 12th century in the ''Prise d'Orange'', written ''principle'', meaning “starting point, beginning”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The temporal sense “beginning” went out of use in the 17th century, except in ''dès le principe'' “from the outset” (1803, Chateaubriand).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) From Old French on, the stress fell on the idea of foundation: the word meant an origin, first cause or source (about 1265, Brunetto Latini) and a motive (late 13th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Of natural causes it named a material element that goes into a thing's make-up, in physics (1636) and chemistry (1680).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ It named the basic notion on which a science rests (about 1245, Henri d'Andeli) and especially a proposition on which reasoning is built: Oresme writes of ''principes mathématiques'' in 1370.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The plural ''principes'' came to mean the elements of a subject (1611, Cotgrave, of an art).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Freud's ''principe de plaisir'' and ''principe de réalité'' appear in 1923.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Outside science the word meant a rule of action (1351), and in the plural the moral rules a person holds to (1688, La Bruyère); ''des femmes sans principes'' is recorded in 1742.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The phrases ''par principe'' (1755, Montesquieu), ''de principe'' (1789, Sieyès) and ''en principe'' (1792, Robespierre) show, according to Rey, how much weight moral norms carried for the Enlightenment and the Revolution.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Principle'' “beginning”, in the ''Prise d'Orange''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1245 – The basic notion of a science, in Henri d'Andeli.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – “Origin, first cause”, in Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1351 – “Rule of conduct”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370 – Oresme's ''principes mathématiques''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – The sense in physics, in Monet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1688 – ''Principes'' “moral rules”, in La Bruyère.^(TLFi)

+ * 1755 – ''Par principe'', in Montesquieu.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1792 – ''En principe'', in Robespierre.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1803 – ''Dès le principe'', in Chateaubriand.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A first [[m|en|cause]], an origin: ''le principe de la vie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # A cause that produces an effect; a constituent element: ''le principe actif d'un médicament''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(logic)'' A first proposition, laid down and not deduced, ''pétition de principe'', [[m|en|begging the question]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fundamental [[m|en|principle]] or law of a science: ''le principe d'Archimède''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' The elements, [[m|en|rudiments]] of a subject.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A rule of action based on a value judgement: ''partir du principe que'', to start from the assumption that.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Moral rules: ''avoir des principes''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Par principe'': as a matter of principle;^(Petit Robert 2007) ''de principe'': on principle, a priori;^(Petit Robert 2007) ''en principe'': in theory, normally.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' A beginning: ''dès le principe'', from the outset.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[principiel]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prince]]

+ * [[principal]]

+ * [[la|prīncipium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}