n. Beginning; commencement.n. Cause, in the widest sense; that by which anything is in any way ultimately determined or regulated.n. An original faculty or endowment of the mind: as, the principle of observation and comparison.n. A truth which is evident and general; a truth comprehending many subordinate truths; a law on which others are founded, or from which others are derived: as, the principles of morality, of equity, of government, etc. In mathematical physics a principle commonly means a very widely useful theorem.n. That which is professed or accepted as a law of action or a rule of conduct; one of the fundamental doctrines or tenets of a system: as, the principles of the Stoics or of the Epicureans; hence, a right rule of conduct; in general, equity; uprightness: as, a man of principle.n. In chem.: A component part; an element: as, the constituent principles of bodies.n. A substance on the presence of which certain qualities, common to a number of bodies, depend. See proximate principles, under proximate.n. In patent law, a law of nature, or a general property of matter, a rule of abstract science.n. a certain important proposition concerning the equationn. See the adjectives.To establish or fix in certain principles; impress with any tenet or belief, whether good or ill: used chiefly in the past participle.