PRINCIPAL Copy link • PRINCIPAL 1. adj., primus, princeps, principalis (the first and most important; the latter post-Augustan): praecipuus (chief): potissimus (by far preferable, beyond comparison): summus, maximus (greatest): in a principal manner, praecipue: potissimum: imprimis, maxime. 2. s. A chief person, caput: princeps: praepositus: praesul: principal of a college or school, gymnasiarchus. Money laid out at interest, sors: caput: vivum (as opposed to “the interest”): pecuniae: nummi: res (money generally): that the woman’s principal might be safer, ut mulieri esset res cautior, etc. (Cic., Coecin., 4, 11): principal lying idle, pecuniae otiosae or vacuae, pecuniae steriles: the principal lies idle, pecuniae otiosae jacent: to live on the interest of principal de fenore vivere: to deduct what is owed from principal, aes alienum de capite deducere: to deduct from principal, de vivo detrahere: the interest due is greater than the principal, mergunt sortem usurae: principal arises from interest, sors fit ex usura.