principia
See also: principiá
English
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin prī̆ncipia.
Noun
principia pl (normally plural, singular principium)
- (archaic) First principles; elementary material.
- 1776, Thomas Pownall, in a letter to the economist Adam Smith
- I do really think, that your book […] might become an institute, containing the principia of those laws of motion, by which the system of the human community is framed and doth act […]
- 1833, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “Barbara S——”, in The Last Essays of Elia. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 116:
- They were her principia, her rudiments; the elementary atoms; the little steps by which she pressed forward to perfection.
- 1776, Thomas Pownall, in a letter to the economist Adam Smith
Related terms
Italian
Verb
principia
- inflection of principiare:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [priːŋˈkɪ.pi.a], [prɪŋˈkɪ.pi.a]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [prin̠ʲˈt͡ʃiː.pi.a]
Noun
prī̆ncipia
- nominative/accusative/vocative plural of prī̆ncipium
References
- "principia", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- “principia”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “principia”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Portuguese
Verb
principia
- inflection of principiar:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɾinˈθipja/ [pɾĩn̟ˈθi.pja] (Spain)
- IPA(key): /pɾinˈsipja/ [pɾĩnˈsi.pja] (Latin America, Philippines)
- Rhymes: -ipja
- Syllabification: prin‧ci‧pia
Verb
principia
- inflection of principiar:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative