different between intent vs principle

English

Alternative forms

• entent (obsolete)

Etymology

Existing since Middle English entente, from Old French entent or entente, ultimately from Latin intentus. Modified later in spelling to align more closely with the Latin word. Compare intention.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?t?nt/

  Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

intent (countable and uncountable, plural intents)

1. A purpose; something that is intended.
2. (law) The state of someone’s mind at the time of committing an offence.

Synonyms

• (something that is intended): See also Thesaurus:intention

Translations

Adjective

intent (comparative more intent, superlative most intent)

1. Firmly fixed or concentrated on something.
   • 2014, Daniel Taylor, "World Cup 2014: Uruguay sink England as Suárez makes his mark," guardian.co.uk, 20 June:

     Uruguay were quick to the ball, strong in the tackle and seemed intent on showing they were a better team than had been apparent in their defeat to Costa Rica.

   • And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.

2. Engrossed.
3. Unwavering from a course of action.

Translations

Related terms

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin intentus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /in?tent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /in?ten/

Noun

intent m (plural intents)

1. try, intent
2. (castells) a castell that collapses before its construction is completed (as opposed to a castell carregat, which collapses after it is completed, or an intent desmuntat, which is not completed but is successfully dismantled without collapsing)

Related terms

• intenció
• intentar

Further reading

• “intent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “intent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “intent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “intent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French principe, from Latin pr?ncipium (“beginning, foundation”), from pr?nceps (“first”); see prince.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??ns?p?l/, /?p??ns?p?l/
• Hyphenation: prin?ci?ple
• Homophone: principal

Noun

principle (plural principles)

1. A fundamental assumption or guiding belief.

   • Let us consider ‘my dog is asleep on the floor’ again. Frege thinks that this sentence can be analyzed in various different ways. Instead of treating it as expressing the application of __ is asleep on the floor to my dog, we can think of it as expressing the application of the concept
          my dog is asleep on __
     to the object
          the floor
     (see Frege 1919). Frege recognizes what is now a commonplace in the logical analysis of natural language. We can attribute more than one logical form to a single sentence. Let us call this the principle of multiple analyses. Frege does not claim that the principle always holds, but as we shall see, modern type theory does claim this.

2. A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem.

3. (sometimes pluralized) Moral rule or aspect.

   I don't doubt your principles.

   You are clearly a person of principle.

   It's the principle of the thing; I won't do business with someone I can't trust.

4. (physics) A rule or law of nature, or the basic idea on how the laws of nature are applied.

   Bernoulli's Principle

   The Pauli Exclusion Principle prevents two fermions from occupying the same state.

   The principle of the internal combustion engine

5. A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality.
   • 1845, William Gregory, Outlines of Chemistry

     Cathartine is the bitter, purgative principle of senna.

6. (obsolete) A beginning.
7. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of Being Religious

     The soul of man is an active principle.

8. An original faculty or endowment.
   • 1828, Dugal Stewart, The Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man

     those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the communication either of enjoyment or suffering

Usage notes

• Principle ("moral rule"), as a noun, is often confused with principal, which can be an adjective ("most important") or a noun ("school principal"). A memory aid to avoid this confusion is: "The principal alphabetic principle places A before E".

Synonyms

• (moral rule or aspect): tenet

Derived terms

Related terms

• prince
• principal
• principality

Translations

Verb

principle (third-person singular simple present principles, present participle principling, simple past and past participle principled)

1. (transitive) To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet or rule of conduct.

   • Let an enthusiast be principled that he or his teacher is inspired.

Further reading

• principle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• principle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.