Wiktionary

prince

See also: prînce and Prince

English edit

 
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Etymology edit

From Anglo-Norman, from Old French prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) +‎ capiō (“seize, take”). Doublet of princeps. Displaced native Old English æþeling.

Pronunciation edit

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

Noun edit

prince (plural princes)

  1. (now archaic or historical) A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch. [from 13th c.]
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 42, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
      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, published 2010, page 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, published 2010, page 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.
    • 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:
      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 June 26, Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian:
      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 October 16, Katharine Whitehorn, The Guardian:
      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 type of court card used in tarot cards, the equivalent of the jack.
  8. The mushroom Agaricus augustus.
  9. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Rohana.

Usage notes edit

  • 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".

Hypernyms edit

Coordinate terms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb edit

prince (third-person singular simple present princes, present participle princing, simple past and past participle princed)

  1. (intransitive, rare, often followed by dummy subject it) To behave or act like a prince.
  2. (transitive, rare) To transform (someone) into a prince.
    • 2005 March 30, abe slaney, “Question re John Lennon's Death”, in rec.music.beatles‎[1] (Usenet):
      All I could remember is the chorus, and something about pumpkins turning into princesses (???!) and frogs turning into princes. I figured she meant the frog was John before she princed him.

References edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

French edit

Etymology edit

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

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

prince m (plural princes)

  1. prince

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Middle French edit

Etymology edit

From Old French prince.

Pronunciation edit

  This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun edit

prince m (plural princes)

  1. prince

Descendants edit

Old French edit

Etymology edit

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin prīnceps.

Pronunciation edit

  • (classical) IPA(key): /ˈpɾint͡sə/
  • (late) IPA(key): /ˈpɾinsə/

Noun edit

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

  1. prince

Old Occitan edit

Etymology edit

From Latin prīnceps, possibly a borrowing.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

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

  1. prince
    • c. 1235, anonymous author, 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.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Walloon edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

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

  1. prince
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