The difference between Prime and Principal

When used as nouns, prime means the first hour of daylight, whereas principal means the money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

When used as adjectives, prime means first in importance, degree, or rank, whereas principal means primary.

Prime is also verb with the meaning: to prepare a mechanism for its main work.

check bellow for the other definitions of Prime and Principal

  1. Prime as an adjective:

    First in importance, degree, or rank.

    Examples:

    "Our prime concern here is to keep the community safe."

  2. Prime as an adjective:

    First in time, order, or sequence.

    Examples:

    "Both the English and French governments established prime meridians in their capitals."

  3. Prime as an adjective:

    First in excellence, quality, or value.

    Examples:

    "This is a prime location for a bookstore."

  4. Prime as an adjective (mathematics, lay):

    Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).

    Examples:

    "Thirteen is a prime number."

  5. Prime as an adjective (mathematics, technical):

    Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.

  6. Prime as an adjective (mathematics):

    Having its complement closed under multiplication: said only of ideals.

  7. Prime as an adjective:

    Marked or distinguished by the prime symbol.

  8. Prime as an adjective:

    Early; blooming; being in the first stage.

  9. Prime as an adjective (obsolete):

    Lecherous; lustful; lewd.

  1. Prime as a noun (historical):

    The first hour of daylight; the first canonical hour.

  2. Prime as a noun (Christianity):

    The religious service appointed to this hour.

  3. Prime as a noun (obsolete):

    The early morning generally.

  4. Prime as a noun (now, _, rare):

    The earliest stage of something.

  5. Prime as a noun:

    The most active, thriving, or successful stage or period.

  6. Prime as a noun:

    The chief or best individual or part.

  7. Prime as a noun (music):

    The first note or tone of a musical scale.

  8. Prime as a noun (fencing):

    The first defensive position, with the sword hand held at head height, and the tip of the sword at head height.

  9. Prime as a noun (algebra, number theory):

    A prime element of a mathematical structure, particularly a prime number.

    Examples:

    "3 is a prime."

  10. Prime as a noun (card games):

    A four-card hand containing one card of each suit in the game of primero; the opposite of a flush in poker.

  11. Prime as a noun (backgammon):

    Six consecutive blocks, which prevent the opponent's pieces from passing.

    Examples:

    "I'm threatening to build a prime here."

  12. Prime as a noun:

    The symbol ′ used to indicate feet, minutes, derivation and other measures and mathematical operations.

  13. Prime as a noun (chemistry, obsolete):

    Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1.

  14. Prime as a noun:

    An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system.

  15. Prime as a noun (obsolete):

    The priming in a flintlock.

  16. Prime as a noun (film):

    Contraction of prime lens, a film lens

  1. Prime as a verb (transitive):

    To prepare a mechanism for its main work.

    Examples:

    "You'll have to press this button twice to prime the fuel pump."

  2. Prime as a verb (transitive):

    To apply a coat of primer paint to.

    Examples:

    "I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat."

  3. Prime as a verb (obsolete, intransitive):

    To be renewed.

  4. Prime as a verb (intransitive):

    To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.

  5. Prime as a verb (intransitive, of a steam boiler):

    To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed.

  6. Prime as a verb:

    To apply priming to (a musket or cannon); to apply a primer to (a metallic cartridge).

  7. Prime as a verb:

    To prepare; to make ready; to instruct beforehand; to coach.

    Examples:

    "to prime a witness"

    "The boys are primed for mischief."

  8. Prime as a verb (UK, dialect, obsolete):

    To trim or prune.

    Examples:

    "to prime trees"

  9. Prime as a verb (math):

    To mark with a prime mark.

  1. Prime as a noun (cycling):

    An intermediate sprint within a race, usually offering a prize and/or points.

  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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