The difference between Master and Principal

When used as nouns, master means someone who has control over something or someone, whereas principal means the money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

When used as adjectives, master means masterful, whereas principal means primary.

Master is also verb with the meaning: to be a master.

check bellow for the other definitions of Master and Principal

  1. Master as a noun:

    Someone who has control over something or someone.

  2. Master as a noun:

    The owner of an animal or slave.

  3. Master as a noun (nautical):

    The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.

  4. Master as a noun (dated):

    The head of a household.

  5. Master as a noun:

    Someone who employs others.

  6. Master as a noun:

    An expert at something.

    Examples:

    "Mark Twain was a master of fiction."

  7. Master as a noun:

    A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.

  8. Master as a noun (dated):

    A schoolmaster.

  9. Master as a noun:

    A skilled artist.

  10. Master as a noun (dated):

    A man or a boy; mister. See Master.

  11. Master as a noun:

    A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree.

    Examples:

    "She has a master in psychology."

  12. Master as a noun:

    A person holding such a degree.

    Examples:

    "He is a master of marine biology."

  13. Master as a noun:

    The original of a document or of a recording.

    Examples:

    "The band couldn't find the master, so they re-recorded their tracks."

  14. Master as a noun (film):

    The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later.

  15. Master as a noun (legal):

    A parajudicial officer (such as a referee, an auditor, an examiner, or an assessor) specially appointed to help a court with its proceedings.

    Examples:

    "The case was tried by a master, who concluded that the plaintiffs were the equitable owners of the property...."

  16. Master as a noun (engineering, computing):

    A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source.

    Examples:

    "a master wheel"

    "a master database"

  17. Master as a noun (freemasonry):

    A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.

  18. Master as a noun (by extension):

    A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.

  1. Master as an adjective:

    Masterful.

  2. Master as an adjective:

    Main, principal or predominant.

  3. Master as an adjective:

    Highly skilled.

    Examples:

    "'master batsman"

  4. Master as an adjective:

    Original.

    Examples:

    "'master copy"

  1. Master as a verb (intransitive):

    To be a master.

  2. Master as a verb (transitive):

    To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.

  3. Master as a verb (transitive):

    To learn to a high degree of proficiency.

    Examples:

    "It took her years to master the art of needlecraft."

  4. Master as a verb (transitive, obsolete):

    To own; to posses.

  5. Master as a verb (transitive, especially of a musical performance):

    To make a master copy of.

  6. Master as a verb (intransitive, usually with ''in''):

    To earn a Master's degree.

    Examples:

    "He mastered in English at the state college."

  1. Master as a noun (nautical, in combination):

    A vessel having a specified number of masts.

    Examples:

    "a two-master"

  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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