prince

See also: prînce and Prince

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman, from Old French prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) + capiō (“seize, take”).

Pronunciation
  • enPR: prĭns, IPA(key): /pɹɪns/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪns
  • Homophone: prints (/pɹɪnts/) (in some accents)

Noun

prince (plural princes)

  1. (now archaic or historical) A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch. [from 13th c.]
    • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 42, in The Essayes, […], book I, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
      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.
  2. (obsolete) A female monarch.
    • Camden
      Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex.
  3. Someone who is preeminent in their field; a great person. [from 13th c.]
    He is a prince among men.
  4. The (male) ruler or head of a principality. [from 14th c.]
    • 2011, Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 26 June:
      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.
  5. 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.]
  6. 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 October:
      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.
  7. The mushroom Agaricus augustus.
  8. A type of court card used in tarot cards, the equivalent of 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

Hypernyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

Further reading
  • prince in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • prince in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Middle French prince, from Old French prince, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin prīnceps, prīncipem.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pʁɛ̃s/
  • audio(file)

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

  1. prince

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French prince.

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

  1. prince

Descendants

Old French

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin prīncipem, accusative singular of prīnceps.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈprĩn.t͡sə/

Noun

prince m (oblique plural princes, nominative singular princes, nominative plural prince)

  1. prince

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin prīnceps, possibly a borrowing.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈpɾintse/

Noun

prince m (oblique plural princes, nominative singular princes, nominative plural prince)

  1. prince
    • c. 1235, anonymous, Vida of Jaufre Rudel:
      Jaufres Rudels de Blaia si fo mout gentils hom, e fo princes de Blaia.
      Jaufre Rudel of Blaye was a most noble man, and was the Lord of Blaye.

Walloon

Noun

prince m (plural princes, feminine princesse, feminine plural princesses)

  1. prince
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