prince

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A (male) ruler, a sovereign

   A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch.

   • 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.
   • 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.
   • 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. 2

   A female monarch.

   • Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex.
3. 3

   Someone who is preeminent in their field

   Someone who is preeminent in their field; a great person.

   • He is a prince among men.
   • In some respects the intellectual is indeed closer to the philosopher than to any specialist, and the philosopher is in more than one sense a sort of prince among the intellectuals.
4. ›+ 14 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      The (male) ruler or head of a principality.

      • 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.
   2. 5

      A male member of a royal family other than the ruler

      A male member of a royal family other than the ruler; especially (in the United Kingdom) the son or grandson of the monarch.

   3. 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.
      • 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.
   4. 7

      A type of court card used in tarot cards, the equivalent of the jack.

   5. 8

      The mushroom Agaricus augustus.

   6. 9

      Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Rohana.

   7. 10

      To behave or act like a prince.

      • The Roofes of Palaces, and Nature prompts them / In ſimple and lowe things, to Prince it, much / Beyond the tricke of others.
   8. 11

      To transform (someone) into a prince.

      • 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.
   9. 12

      The title of a prince.

   10. 13

       A surname transferred from the nickname for someone who acted like a prince, or played…

       A surname transferred from the nickname for someone who acted like a prince, or played the part in a pageant, or served in the household of a prince.

   11. 14

       A male given name from English in occasional use.

       • Prince Fielder hit another home run today.
       • 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.
   12. 15

       A township in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada.

   13. 16

       A hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Meota No. 468, Saskatchewan, Canada.

   14. 17

       A census-designated place in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States.

The neighborhood

• neighborprincedom
• neighborprincely
• neighborprinceps
• neighborprincess
• neighborprincipal
• neighborprincipality
• neighborprincipicide
• neighborprinciple
• neighborruler