Principal vs. Proprietor

Principaladjective

Primary; most important.

‘Smith is the principal architect of this design.’; ‘The principal cause of the failure was poor planning.’;

Proprietornoun

An owner.

Principaladjective

Of or relating to a prince; princely.

Proprietornoun

A sole owner of an unincorporated business, also called a sole proprietor.

Principalnoun

The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

‘A portion of your mortgage payment goes to reduce the principal, and the rest covers interest.’;

Proprietornoun

One of the owners of an unincorporated business, a partner.

Principalnoun

The chief administrator of a school.

Proprietornoun

(history) One or more persons to whom a colonial territory is assigned, like a fief, including its administration.

‘From 10 September 1621 till 12 June 1632, Sir William Alexander, styled Earl of Stirling and Viscount of Canada, was proprietor of the Scottish colony Nova Scotia.’;

Principalnoun

The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.

Proprietornoun

One who has the legal right or exclusive title to anything, whether in possession or not; an owner; as, the proprietor of farm or of a mill.

Principalnoun

(legal) A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on one′s behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.

‘When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the client′s agent, to act on the client′s behalf.’; ‘My principal sells metal shims.’;

Proprietornoun

(law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business;

‘he is the owner of a chain of restaurants’;

Principalnoun

(legal) The primary participant in a crime.

Proprietornoun

the owner of a business, or a holder of property

‘Chinese restaurant proprietors’; ‘by 1640 he was himself the proprietor of a three-hundred-acre tract’;

Principalnoun

(North America) A partner or owner of a business.

Principalnoun

(music) A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.

Principalnoun

The construction that gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron; or, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.

Principalnoun

The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing.

Principalnoun

One of the turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and centre of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned.

Principalnoun

(obsolete) An essential point or rule; a principle.

Principalnoun

A dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company.

Principalnoun

(computing) A security principal.

Principaladjective

Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case.

‘Wisdom is the principal thing.’;

Principaladjective

Of or pertaining to a prince; princely.

Principalnoun

A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; - distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.

Principalnoun

The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, - as distinguished from an accessory.

Principalnoun

A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous.

Principalnoun

the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

Principalnoun

the educator who has executive authority for a school;

‘she sent unruly pupils to see the principal’;

Principalnoun

an actor who plays a principal role

Principalnoun

capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

Principalnoun

the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

Principaladjective

most important element;

‘the chief aim of living’; ‘the main doors were of solid glass’; ‘the principal rivers of America’; ‘the principal example’; ‘policemen were primary targets’;

Principaladjective

first in order of importance; main

‘the country's principal cities’;

Principaladjective

denoting an original sum invested or lent

‘the principal amount of your investment’;

Principalnoun

the most important or senior person in an organization or group

‘a design consultancy whose principal is based in San Francisco’;

Principalnoun

the head of a school, college, or other educational institution

‘I was appointed principal of the new school’;

Principalnoun

the leading performer in a concert, play, ballet, or opera

‘the singing style of the principals’;

Principalnoun

the leading player in each section of an orchestra

‘he had been an outstanding principal in the orchestra’;

Principalnoun

(in certain professions) a fully qualified practitioner

‘principals in general practice are self-employed and controlled by their practice agreements’;

Principalnoun

(in the UK) a senior civil servant in charge of a particular section.

Principalnoun

a sum of money lent or invested, on which interest is paid

‘the winners are paid from the interest without even touching the principal’;

Principalnoun

a person for whom another acts as an agent or representative

‘stockbrokers in Tokyo act as agents rather than as principals’;

Principalnoun

the person directly responsible for a crime.

Principalnoun

each of the combatants in a duel.

Principalnoun

a main rafter supporting purlins.

Principalnoun

an organ stop sounding a main register of open flue pipes typically an octave above the diapason

‘all the principals are on one manual’;