adj.
  - first in order of importance; main.
 - denoting an original sum of money invested or lent.
 
n.
     - the most important or senior person in an organization or group. 
▸the head of a school or college.
 ▸(in certain professions) a fully qualified practitioner.
 - a sum of money lent or invested, on which interest is paid.
 - a person for whom another acts as an agent or representative. 
▸Law  a person directly responsible for a crime.
 - a main rafter supporting purlins.
 - an organ stop sounding a set of pipes typically an octave above the diapason.
 
 
  Derivative
  
  Usage
  On the confusion of principal and principle, see usage at principle.
  Etymology
  ME: via OFr. from L. principalis ‘first, original’, from princeps, princip- ‘first, chief’.