different between principle vs precedent

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.

English

Alternative forms

• præcedent (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French, from Latin praec?d?ns, present participle of praec?dere (“to precede”); See precede.

Pronunciation

Adjective:

• IPA^(key): /p???si?.d?nt/

Noun:

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) enPR: pr?s??-d?nt, IPA^(key): /?p??s.?.d?nt/
• (General Australian, Ireland) IPA^(key): /?p?i?.s?.d?nt/, /?p??s-/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?p?es.?.d?nt/, /?p?i?-/, /?p??s-/

Noun

precedent (plural precedents)

1. An act in the past which may be used as an example to help decide the outcome of similar instances in the future.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     Examples for cases can but direct as precedents only.

2. (law) A decided case which is cited or used as an example to justify a judgment in a subsequent case.
3. An established habit or custom.
4. (obsolete, with definite article) The aforementioned (thing).
   • , New York 2001, p.74:

     A third argument may be derived from the precedent.

5. The previous version.
6. (obsolete) A rough draught of a writing which precedes a finished copy.

Coordinate terms

• (a case used as an example to justify a judgment in a subsequent one): case law

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

precedent (not comparable)

1. Happening or taking place earlier in time; previous or preceding. [from 14th c.]
2. (now rare) Coming before in a particular order or arrangement; preceding, foregoing. [from 15th c.]

Translations

Verb

precedent (third-person singular simple present precedents, present participle precedenting, simple past and past participle precedented)

1. (transitive, law) To provide precedents for.
2. (transitive, law) To be a precedent for.

See also

• stare decisis

Anagrams

• precented

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin praec?d?ns.

Adjective

precedent (masculine and feminine plural precedents)

1. previous, preceding

Noun

precedent m (plural precedents)

1. precedent

Related terms

• precedència
• precedir

Further reading

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

Czech

Noun

precedent m

1. precedent (past act used as example)

Synonyms

• precedens

Related terms

• See cese

Further reading

• precedent in Kartotéka Novo?eského lexikálního archivu
• precedent in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French precedent. First attested in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pre?.se??d?nt/, /?pre?.s??d?nt/
• Hyphenation: pre?ce?dent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

precedent n (plural precedenten)

1. precedent

Derived terms

• precedentwerking

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praec?d?ns. Compare Middle French preceder.

Adjective

precedent m (oblique and nominative feminine singular precedent or precedente)

1. preceding; that comes before

Romanian

Etymology

From French précédent.

Noun

precedent n (plural preceden?i)

1. precedent

Declension