The difference between By and Principal

When used as nouns, by means a pass, whereas principal means the money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

When used as adjectives, by means out of the way, subsidiary, whereas principal means primary.

By is also preposition with the meaning: near or next to.

By is also adverb with the meaning: along a path which runs by the speaker.

check bellow for the other definitions of By and Principal

  1. By as a preposition:

    Near or next to.

    Examples:

    "The mailbox is by the bus stop."

  2. By as a preposition:

    At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval.

    Examples:

    "Be back by ten o'clock!  We will send it by the first week of July."

  3. By as a preposition:

    Through the action or presence of.

    Examples:

    "The matter was decided by the chairman.  The boat was swamped by the water.  He was protected by his body armour."

  4. By as a preposition:

    Existing through the authorship etc. of.

    Examples:

    "There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare"

  5. By as a preposition:

    Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of.

  6. By as a preposition:

    Involving/using the means of.

    Examples:

    "I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking."

  7. By as a preposition:

    Examples:

    "The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight."

  8. By as a preposition:

    .

    Examples:

    "I sorted the items by category.  By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife."

  9. By as a preposition:

    With a change of.

    Examples:

    "Our stock is up by ten percent."

  10. By as a preposition:

    Examples:

    "We went through the book page by page.  We crawled forward by inches."

  11. By as a preposition:

    According to.

    Examples:

    "He cheated by his own admission."

  12. By as a preposition:

    With the authority of.

    Examples:

    "'By Jove! I think she's got it!  By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this."

  13. By as a preposition:

    Examples:

    "It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix.  The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.  The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by nowrap 30 cm."

  14. By as a preposition (horse breeding):

    Examples:

    "She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress."

  1. By as an adverb:

    Along a path which runs by the speaker.

    Examples:

    "I watched as it passed by."

  2. By as an adverb:

    In the vicinity, near.

    Examples:

    "There was a shepherd close by."

    "The shop is hard by the High Street."

  3. By as an adverb:

    To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.

    Examples:

    "I'll stop by on my way home from work."

    "We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave."

  4. By as an adverb:

    Aside, away.

    Examples:

    "The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring."

  1. By as an adjective:

    Out of the way, subsidiary.

  1. By as a noun (card games):

    A pass

  1. Principal as an adjective:

    Primary; most important.

    Examples:

    "Smith is the principal architect of this design."

    "The principal cause of the failure was poor planning."

  2. Principal as an adjective (obsolete, Latinism):

    Of or relating to a prince; princely.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Edmund Spenser"

  1. Principal as a noun (finance, uncountable):

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

    Examples:

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

  2. Principal as a noun (North America, Australia, New Zealand):

    The chief administrator of a school.

  3. Principal as a noun (UK, Canada):

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

  4. Principal as a noun (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.

    Examples:

    "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."

  5. Principal as a noun (legal):

    The primary participant in a crime.

  6. Principal as a noun (North America):

    A partner or owner of a business.

  7. Principal as a noun (music):

    A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.

  8. Principal as a noun (architecture, engineering):

    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.

  9. Principal as a noun:

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

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Spenser"

    "rfquotek J. H. Walsh"

  10. Principal as a noun:

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

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Oxf. Gloss."

  11. Principal as a noun (obsolete):

    An essential point or rule; a principle.

  12. Principal as a noun:

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

  13. Principal as a noun (computing):

    A security principal.

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