Prince
Pronunciation
- enPR: prÄns, IPA: /pɹɪns/
- Rhymes: -ɪns
- Homophones: prints () in some accents
Origin
From Anglo-Norman, Old French prince, from Latin princeps ("first head"), from primus ("first") + capere ("seize, take").
Full definition of prince
Noun
prince
(plural princes)- (now archaic or historical) A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch. from 13th c.
- 1603, John Florio, trans. Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.42:Truely, to see our Princes all alone, sitting at their meat, beleagred round with so many talkers, whisperers, and gazing beholders, unknowne what they are or whence they come, I have often rather pittied than envied them.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 600:By his last years Erasmus realized that princes like Henry VIII and François I had deceived him in their elaborate negotiations for universal peace, but his belief in the potential of princely power for good remained undimmed.
- 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate 2010, p. 411:If Henry does not fully trust him, is it surprising? A prince is alone: in his council chamber, in his bedchamber, and finally in Hell's antechamber, stripped – as Harry Percy said – for Judgment.
- (obsolete) A female monarch.
- CamdenQueen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex.
- Someone who is preeminent in their field; a great person. from 13th c.He is a prince among men.
- The (male) ruler or head of a principality. from 14th c.
- 2011, Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 26 Jun 2011:He is the prince who never grew up – a one-time playboy and son of the Hollywood star Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.
- A male member of a royal family other than the ruler; especially (in the United Kingdom) the son or grandson of the monarch. from 14th c.
- A non-royal high title of nobility, especially in France and the Holy Roman Empire.
- Prince Louis de Broglie won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 2011, Katharine Whitehorn, The Guardian, 16 Oct 2011:Conspiracy theories are always enticing: one I was involved with in the 50s was about Mayerling, the 19th-century Austrian scandal involving a prince’s lover who died in dodgy circumstances in a hunting lodge.
- A common name of the mushroom Agaricus augustus.
- A type of court card used in Tarot cards, the equivalent to the Jack.
Usage notes
The female equivalent is princess.
A prince is usually addressed as "Your Highness". A son of a king is "His Royal Highness"; a son of an emperor is "His Imperial Highness". A sovereign prince may have a style such as "His Serene Highness".
Synonyms
- (mushroom) Agaricus augustus