prince

English Online Dictionary. What means prince‎? What does prince mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English prince, from Anglo-Norman prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) +‎ capiō (“seize, take”). Cognate with Old English fruma (“prince, ruler”). Doublet of princeps and principe.

Displaced native Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling; Middle English kinebarn, from Old English cynebearn; Middle English alder, from Old English ealdor; and Middle English drighten, from Old English dryhten.

Pronunciation

• enPR: prĭns, IPA^(key): /pɹɪns/
• 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.]
2. (obsolete) A female monarch.
3. Someone who is preeminent in their field; a great person. [from 13th c.]

4. The (male) ruler or head of a principality. [from 14th c.]
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.
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

• 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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

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.

References

• “prince, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

• Agaricus augustus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Agaricus sect. Arvenses on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Agaricus augustus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• “prince”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “prince”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →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/

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

1. prince

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: پرَنْس (prens)
  • Turkish: prens
• → Persian: پرَنس (perans)

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.

Pronunciation

Noun

prince m (plural princes)

1. prince

Descendants

• French: prince
  • → Ottoman Turkish: پرَنْس (prens)
    • Turkish: prens
  • → Persian: پرَنس (perans)

Old French

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin prīnceps.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

1. prince

Descendants

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

Walloon

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʀɛ̃s/

Noun

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

1. prince