Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Prince

Prince

,
Noun.
[F., from L.
princeps
,
-cipis
, the first, chief;
primus
first +
capere
to take. See
Prime
,
Adj.
, and
Capacious
.]
1.
The one of highest rank; one holding the highest place and authority; a sovereign; a monarch; – originally applied to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female.
Wyclif (Rev. i. 5).
Go, Michael, of celestial armies
prince
.
Milton.
Queen Elizabeth, a
prince
admirable above her sex.
Camden.
2.
The son of a king or emperor, or the issue of a royal family;
as,
princes
of the blood
.
Shak.
3.
A title belonging to persons of high rank, differing in different countries. In England it belongs to dukes, marquises, and earls, but is given to members of the royal family only. In Italy a prince is inferior to a duke as a member of a particular order of nobility; in Spain he is always one of the royal family.
4.
The chief of any body of men; one at the head of a class or profession; one who is preëminent;
as, a merchant
prince
; a
prince
of players.
“The prince of learning.”
Peacham.
Prince-Albert coat
,
a long double-breasted frock coat for men.
–
Prince of the blood
,
Prince consort
,
Prince of darkness
.
See under
Blood
,
Consort
, and
Darkness
.
–
Prince of Wales
,
the oldest son of the English sovereign.
–
Prince’s feather
(Bot.)
,
a name given to two annual herbs (
Amarantus caudatus
and
Polygonum orientale
), with apetalous reddish flowers arranged in long recurved panicled spikes.
–
Prince's metal
,
Prince Rupert's metal
. See under
Metal
.
Prince's pine
.
(Bot.)
See
Pipsissewa
.

Prince

,
Verb.
I.
To play the prince.
[R.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Prince

PRINCE

,
Noun.
prins. [L. princeps.]
1.
In a general sense, a sovereign; the chief and independent ruler of a nation or state. Thus when we speak of the princes of Europe, we include emperors and kings. Hence, a chief in general; as a prince of the celestial host.
2.
A sovereign in a certain territory; one who has the government of a particular state or territory, but holds of a superior to whom he owes certain services; as the princes of the German states.
3.
The son of a king or emperor, or the issue of a royal family; as princes of the blood. In England, the eldest son of the king is created prince of Wales.
4.
The chief of any body of men.
5.
A chief or ruler of either sex. Queen Elizabeth is called by Camden prince, but this application is unusual and harsh.
Prince of the senate, in ancient Rome, was the person first called in the roll of senators. He was always of consular and censorian
dignity.
In Scripture, this name prince is given to God, Dan.8; to Christ, who is called the prince of peace, Is.9, and the prince of life, Acts 3.; to the chief of the priests, the prince of the sanctuary, Is.43.; to the Roman emperor, Dan.9.; to men of superior worth and excellence, Eccles. 10.; to nobles, counselors and officers of a kingdom, Is.10.; to the chief men of families or tribes, Num. 17.; to Satan, who is called the prince of this world, John 12.., and prince of the power of the air, Eph.2.

PRINCE

,
Verb.
I.
To play the prince; to take state.

Definition 2024

Prince

Prince

See also: prince and prînce

English

Proper noun

Prince

  1. The title of a prince.
  2. A surname​ for someone who acted like a prince, or played the part in a pageant, or served in the household of a prince.
  3. A male given name in occasional use.
    • 1853 Charles Dickens: Bleak House: Chapter XIV:
      Young Mr Turveydrop's name is Prince; I wish it wasn't, because it sounds like a dog, but he didn't christen himself. Old Mr Turveydrop had him christened Prince, in remembrance of the Prince Regent.
    Prince Fielder hit another home run today.‎

Translations

Anagrams

prince

prince

See also: prînce and Prince

English

Noun

prince ‎(plural princes, feminine princess)

  1. (now archaic or historical) A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch. [from 13th c.]
    • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, 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 ****'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. A common name of the mushroom Agaricus augustus.
  8. A type of court card used in Tarot cards, the equivalent to the Jack.

Usage notes

  • 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

Related terms

See also

Translations

External links

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

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin prīnceps, prīncipem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pʁɛ̃s/

Noun

prince m ‎(plural princes)

  1. prince

Related terms

Anagrams

Middle French

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

  1. prince

Old French

Etymology

Latin prīncipem, accusative singular of prīnceps.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈprĩntse/

Noun

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

  1. prince

Old Provençal

Etymology

Latin prīncipem (accusative), prīnceps (nominative).

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.

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman, Old French prince, from Latin princeps ‎(“first head”), from primus ‎(“first”) + capere ‎(“seize, take”).

Pronunciation

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

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