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”). Doublet of princeps. Displaced native Old English æþeling.

Pronunciation

• enPR: prĭns, IPA^(key): /pɹɪns/

• Audio (US)

  (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, 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. The mushroom Agaricus augustus.
8. A type of court card used in tarot cards, the equivalent of the jack.
9. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Rohana.

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".

Hypernyms

• ruler

Coordinate terms

• duke
• emperor
• grand duke
• Highness
• king

Derived terms

• crown prince
• Prince Edward County
• Prince Frederick
• Prince George
• Prince George County
• Prince George's County
• prince-primate
• prince regent
• Princes End
• Princes Risborough
• Princeville
• Prince William County

 

Related terms

• princedom
• princely
• princeps
• princess
• principal
• principality
• principicide
• principle

Translations

male ruler or head of a principality

• Adyghe: пщы (pśə)
• Afrikaans: prins (af)
• Albanian: pringj m
• Arabic: أَمِير‎ (ar) m (ʔamīr)

  Moroccan Arabic: مير‎ (mir) (old)

• Armenian: իշխան (hy) (išxan)
• Assamese: কোঁৱৰ (kü̃or)
• Asturian: príncipe (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: şahzadə, əmir
• Bavarian: Fiarst, Fiascht
• Belarusian: князь m (knjazʹ), прынц m (prync)
• Bengali: রাজকুমার (bn) (rajkumar), রাজপুত্র (rajputro), শাহজাদা (śahjada), আমীরজাদা (amirjada)
• Breton: priñs (br) m
• Bulgarian: княз (bg) m (knjaz), принц m (princ)
• Burmese: မင်းသား (my) (mang:sa:)
• Catalan: príncep (ca) m
• Chagatai: شهزاده‎
• Chechen: э̄ла (eela)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亲王 (zh) (qīnwáng) (of higher rank or European); 國王／国王 (zh) (guówáng) (of higher rank historically); 郡王 (zh) (jùnwáng) (of lower rank); 王 (zh) (wáng); 王爵 (zh) (wángjué); 王爷 (zh) (huángzǐ) (honorific or colloquial); 王子 (zh) (wángzi) (colloquial)

• Cornish: pennsevik m
• Czech: kníže (cs) m
• Danish: prins (da) c, fyrste c
• Dutch: prins (nl)
• Egyptian: (jnpw)
• Erzya: каназор (kanazor)
• Esperanto: princo
• Estonian: vürst
• Faroese: prinsur m, fúrsti m
• Finnish: ruhtinas (fi)
• French: prince (fr) m
• Galician: príncipe (gl) m
• Georgian: პრინცი (ṗrinci), უფლისწული (uplisc̣uli)
• German: Fürst (de) m
• Greek: πρίγκιπας (el) m (prígkipas), βασιλόπουλο (el) n (vasilópoulo)

  Ancient: πρῖγκιψ m (prînkips), βασιλείδης m (basileídēs)

• Hebrew: נָסִיךְ‎ (he) m (nasik)
• Hindi: शहज़ादा m (śahzādā), राजकुमार (hi) m (rājkumār)
• Hungarian: fejedelem (hu), uralkodó (hu)
• Icelandic: prins (is) m, fursti m
• Indonesian: pangeran (id), putera (id)
• Ingush: аьла (äla)
• Irish: flaith m, prionsa m
• Italian: principe (it)
• Japanese: 公 (ja) (こう, kō), (around Germany) 候 (ja) (こう, kō), (around France) 大公 (ja) (たいこう, taikō), 王子 (ja) (おうじ, ōji), 皇子 (ja) (こうし, kōshi)
• Kabardian: пщы (pśə)
• Kapampangan: lakan, datu, pirinsipi
• Kazakh: ханзада (xanzada), шаһзада (kk) (şahzada)
• Khmer: ព្រះអង្គម្ចាស់ (km) (prĕəh ʼɑng mcah)
• Korean: 대공(大公) (ko) (daegong), 대군(大君) (ko) (daegun)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: şahzade (ku)

• Kyrgyz: канзаада (ky) (kanzaada), принц (prints)
• Lao: ເຈົ້າຊາຍ (chao sāi)
• Latin: regulus, prīnceps (la) m
• Latvian: princis m
• Lithuanian: princas m
• Luxembourgish: Prënz m
• Lü: ᦈᧁᦌᦻ (ṫsawsaay)
• Macedonian: кнез m (knez), принц m (princ)
• Malay: putera (ms)
• Manx: prinse m, flah m
• Manchu: ᠠᡤᡝ (age)
• Maori: piriniha
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ноён (mn) (nojon)

• Nahuatl: pilli (nah)
• Norman: prînce m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fyrste (no) m, fyrst (no) (as a title)

  Nynorsk: fyrste m, fyrst (as a title)

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: кънѧзь m (kŭnęzĭ), кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ)

  Glagolitic: ⰽⱏⱀⱔⰸⱐ m (kŭnęzĭ), ⰽⱏⱀⱔⰷⱐ m (kŭnędzĭ)

• Old East Slavic: кънѧзь m (kŭnęzĭ), кнѧзь m (knęzĭ)
• Old English: æþeling m
• Old Occitan: prince m
• Ottoman Turkish: امیر‎ (emir), خان‎ (han)
• Parthian: 𐫇𐫏𐫘𐫛𐫇𐫍𐫡‎ (wispuhr)
• Parthian: 𐫇𐫏𐫘𐫛𐫇𐫍𐫡‎ (wispuhr)
• Pashto: شاهزاده‎ m (šāhzādá), شازاده‎ m (šāzãdá), اميرزاده‎ m (amirzādá), شاهزوى‎ m (šāhzóy)
• Persian: شاهزاده‎ (fa) (šâhzâde), امیر‎ (fa) (amir), شهریار‎ (fa) (šahryâr)
• Polish: książę (pl) m, kniaź (pl) m (Russian prince)
• Portuguese: príncipe (pt)
• Quechua: awki
• Romanian: prinț (ro) m
• Russian: князь (ru) m (knjazʹ), принц (ru) m (princ)
• Samoan: aloalii, purinise
• Scottish Gaelic: prionnsa m, flath m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кра́љевић m, ца̏ревић m, при̏нц m

  Roman: králjević m, cȁrević m, prȉnc (sh) m

• Slovak: knieža m
• Slovene: knez (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wjerch m

• Spanish: príncipe (es), conde (es) m
• Swahili: mkuu (sw)
• Swedish: furste (sv) c
• Tagalog: prinsipe, lakan (tl)
• Tajik: шоҳзода (tg) (šohzoda), амир (amir)
• Tatar: шаһзадә (tt) (şahzadä)
• Thai: เจ้าชาย (th) (jâao-chaai), เจ้า (th) (jâao)
• Tibetan: རྒྱལ་སྲས (rgyal sras), རྒྱལ་བུ (rgyal bu)
• Tongan: pilinisi
• Turkish: prens (tr), şehzade (tr)
• Turkmen: şazada, knýaz
• Ukrainian: князь m (knjazʹ), принц m (prync)
• Urdu: شہزادہ‎ m (śahzādā), راجکمار‎ m (rājkumār)
• Uyghur: شاھزادە‎ (ug) (shahzade)
• Uzbek: shahzoda (uz), amir (uz)
• Vietnamese: hoàng tử (vi), vương tử
• Volapük: (♂♀) plin (vo), (♂) hiplin
• Walloon: prince (wa) m
• Welsh: tywysog (cy) m
• Yiddish: פּרינץ‎ m (prints)

son or male-line grandson of a reigning monarch

• Afrikaans: prins (af)
• Albanian: princ (sq) m
• Arabic: أَمِير‎ (ar) m (ʔamīr)
• Armenian: արքայազն (hy) (arkʿayazn)
• Assamese: কোঁৱৰ (kü̃or)
• Asturian: príncipe (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: şahzadə
• Belarusian: прынц m (prync), царэ́віч m (carévič) (tsar's son), карале́віч m (karaljévič) (king's son)
• Bengali: রাজকুমার (bn) (rajkumar), রাজপুত্র (rajputro), যুবরাজ (juboraj), শাহজাদা (śahjada), আমীরজাদা (amirjada)
• Breton: priñs (br) m
• Bulgarian: принц f (princ)
• Burmese: မင်းသား (my) (mang:sa:)
• Catalan: príncep (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 王子 (zh) (wángzǐ) (for son of a king); 皇子 (zh) (huángzǐ) (for son of an emperor)

• Cornish: pennsevik m
• Czech: princ (cs) m
• Danish: prins (da) c
• Dutch: prins (nl) m
• Erzya: инязорцёра (ińazorćora)
• Esperanto: reĝido
• Estonian: prints (et)
• Faroese: prinsur m
• Finnish: prinssi (fi)
• French: prince (fr) m
• Galician: príncipe (gl) m
• Georgian: პრინცი (ṗrinci)
• German: Prinz (de) m, Königssohn (de) m, Königsenkel m
• Greek: πρίγκιπας (el) m (prígkipas)

  Ancient: αἰσυμνητήρ m (aisumnētḗr)

• Hawaiian: kamāliʻi kāne
• Hebrew: נָסִיךְ‎ (he) m (nasik), בֶּן מֶלֶךְ‎ (he) m (ben mélech)
• Hindi: राजकुमार (hi) m (rājkumār)
• Hungarian: herceg (hu), királyfi (hu)
• Icelandic: prins (is) m
• Indonesian: pangeran (id)
• Irish: prionsa m, mac rí m, rídhamhna m
• Japanese: 王子 (ja) (おうじ, ōji)
• Javanese: ꦥꦔꦺꦫꦤ꧀ (jv) (pangéran)
• Kapampangan: lakan, datu, pirinsipi
• Kazakh: ханзада (xanzada)
• Khmer: ព្រះអង្គម្ចាស់ (km) (prĕəh ʼɑng mcah), អ្នកអង្គម្ចាស់ (km) (nĕək ʼɑng mcah) (male-line grandson of reigning monarch)
• Korean: 왕자(王子) (ko) (wangja)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: میر‎ (ckb) (mîr)

• Kyrgyz: канзада (kanzada), канзаада (ky) (kanzaada), падышазада (padışazada)
• Latin: prīnceps (la) m, regulus
• Latvian: princis m
• Lithuanian: princas m
• Luxembourgish: Prënz m
• Macedonian: принц m (princ)
• Malay: putera (ms), pengiran (formal, in Brunei), pangeran
• Malayalam: രാജകുമാരൻ m (rājakumāraṉ)
• Manx: prinse m
• Maori: piriniha
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хан хүү (xan xüü), агь (mn) (agʹ)

• Norman: prînce m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prins m

  Nynorsk: prins m

• Old English: æþeling m
• Ottoman Turkish: شاهزاده‎ (şahzade)
• Pashto: شهزاده‎ m (šahzādá)
• Persian: شاهزاده‎ (fa) (šâhzâde)
• Plautdietsch: Prins m
• Polish: książę (pl) m
• Portuguese: príncipe (pt) m
• Romanian: prinț (ro)
• Russian: принц (ru) m (princ), царе́вич (ru) m (carévič) (tsar's son), короле́вич (ru) m (korolévič) (king's son)
• Samoan: purinise
• Sanskrit: कुमार (sa) m (kumāra)
• Scottish Gaelic: prionnsa m, flath m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кра́љевић m, ца̏ревић m, при̏нц m

  Roman: králjević m, cȁrević m, prȉnc (sh) m

• Slovak: princ m
• Slovene: princ (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: princ m

• Spanish: príncipe (es) m (firstborn), infante (es) m
• Sundanese: ᮕᮍᮦᮛᮔ᮪ (pangéran)
• Swedish: prins (sv) c
• Tagalog: lakan (tl), prinsipe
• Tajik: шоҳзода (tg) (šohzoda), подшоҳзода (podšohzoda)
• Telugu: యువరాజు (te) (yuvarāju)
• Tocharian B: mäñcuṣke
• Tongan: pilinisi
• Turkish: prens (tr), şehzade (tr), beyrek
• Turkmen: knýaz, şazada
• Ukrainian: принц m (prync), царе́вич (uk) m (carévyč) (tsar's son), короле́вич (uk) m (korolévyč) (king's son)
• Urdu: شہزادہ‎ m (śahzādā)
• Uyghur: شاھزادە‎ (ug) (shahzade)
• Uzbek: shahzoda (uz)
• Vietnamese: vương tử, hoàng tử (vi)
• Volapük: leson (vo)
• Welsh: tywysog (cy) m
• Yiddish: פּרינץ‎ m (prints), בן־מלך‎ m (ben-meylekh)

(figuratively) great person

• Bulgarian: принц m (princ)
• Finnish: kunkku (fi) (figuratively)
• German: König (de) m
• Greek: άρχοντας (el) m (árchontas), πρίγκιπας (el) m (prígkipas)
• Icelandic: prins (is) m, mikilmenni (is) n
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: میری میران‎ (mîrî mîran)

• Portuguese: maioral
• Russian: принц (ru) m (princ)
• Scottish Gaelic: prionnsa m, laoch m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: при̏нц m

  Roman: prȉnc (sh) m

Agaricus augustus

• Bulgarian: ца́рска печу́рка f (cárska pečúrka)
• Czech: pečárka císařská, žampion císařský
• Finnish: upeaherkkusieni
• Hungarian: óriás csiperke (hu)
• Swedish: kungschampinjon c

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

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} უფლისწული (uplisc̣uli)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} principe (it) m
• Javanese: ^{(please verify)} putro
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} mîr (ku) m (1), ^{(please verify)} pismîr (ku) m (2), ^{(please verify)} prens (ku) m (2)

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} prīnceps (la) m
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} രാജകുമാരൻ (rājakumāraṉ)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} ван (mn) (van)

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} prinț (ro) m
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} రాజకుమారుడు (rājakumāruḍu), ^{(please verify)} రాకుమారుడు (te) (rākumāruḍu)

Further reading

• Agaricus augustus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Agaricus sect. Arvenses on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Agaricus augustus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• “prince”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “prince”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• pincer

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɛ̃s/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

1. prince

Derived terms

• bon prince
• prince charmant
• prince des ténèbres
• princesse
• Princeville

 

Descendants

• → English: prince, princess
  • → Manx: prinse
  • → Japanese: プリンス (purinsu), プリンセス (purinsesu)
• → Dutch: prins, prinses
• → Danish: prins, prinsesse
• → Swedish: prins, prinsessa
  • → Finnish: prinssi, prinsessa
• → German: Prinz, Prinzessin
  • → Russian: принц (princ), принцесса (princessa)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: princ
  • → Esperanto: princo
  • → Icelandic: prins
  • → Faroese: prinsur
• → Irish: prionsa
• → Luxembourgish: Prënz
• → Ottoman Turkish: پرَنْس‎ (prens)
  • Turkish: prens
• → Persian: پرَنس‎ (perans)
• → Romanian: prinț, prințesă
• → Latvian: princis, princese

Further reading

• “prince”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• pincer

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French prince.

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

1. prince

Descendants

• French: prince

Old French

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin prīnceps.

Pronunciation

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

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): /ˈpɾint͡se/

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʀɛ̃s/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

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

1. prince