[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

principle \prin"ciple\, n. f. principe, l. principium
   beginning, foundation, fr. princeps, -cipis. see prince.
   1. beginning; commencement. obs.
      1913 webster

            doubting sad end of principle unsound. --spenser.
      1913 webster

   2. a source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds;
      fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance;
      ultimate element, or cause.
      1913 webster

            the soul of man is an active principle. --tillotson.
      1913 webster

   3. an original faculty or endowment.
      1913 webster

            nature in your principles hath set benignity.
                                                  --chaucer.
      1913 webster

            those active principles whose direct and ultimate
            object is the communication either of enjoyment or
            suffering.                            --stewart.
      1913 webster

   4. a fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from
      which others are derived, or on which others are founded;
      a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an
      axiom; a postulate.
      1913 webster

            therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of
            christ, let us go on unto perfection. --heb. vi. 1.
      1913 webster

            a good principle, not rightly understood, may prove
            as hurtful as a bad.                  --milton.
      1913 webster

   5. a settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an
      opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on
      the life and behavior; a rule usually, a right rule of
      conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person
      of no principle.
      1913 webster

            all kinds of dishonesty destroy our pretenses to an
            honest principle of mind.             --law.
      1913 webster

   6. chem. any original inherent constituent which
      characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential
      properties, and which can usually be separated by
      analysis; -- applied especially to drugs, plant extracts,
      etc.
      1913 webster

            cathartine is the bitter, purgative principle of
            senna.                                --gregory.
      1913 webster

   bitter principle, principle of contradiction, etc. see
      under bitter, contradiction, etc.
      1913 webster
see also:
prince bitter principle principle of contradiction bitter contradiction 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

contradiction \con`tradic"tion\, n. l. contradictio answer,
   objection: cf. f. contradiction.
   1. an assertion of the contrary to what has been said or
      affirmed; denial of the truth of a statement or assertion;
      contrary declaration; gainsaying.
      1913 webster

            his fair demands
            shall be accomplished without contradiction. --shak.
      1913 webster

   2. direct opposition or repugnancy; inconsistency;
      incongruity or contrariety; one who, or that which, is
      inconsistent.
      1913 webster

            can he make deathless death? that were to make
            strange contradiction.                --milton.
      1913 webster

            we state our experience and then we come to a manly
            resolution of acting in contradiction to it.
                                                  --burke.
      1913 webster

            both parts of a contradiction can not possibly be
            true.                                 --hobbes.
      1913 webster

            of contradictions infinite the slave. --wordsworth.
      1913 webster

   principle of contradiction logic, the axiom or law of
      thought that a thing cannot be and not be at the same
      time, or a thing must either be or not be, or the same
      attribute can not at the same time be affirmed and and
      denied of the same subject; also called the law of the
      excluded middle.

   note: it develops itself in three specific forms which have
         been called the "three logical axioms." first, "a is
         a." second, "a is not not-a" third, "everything is
         either a or not-a."
         1913 webster
see also:
principle of contradiction law of the excluded middle 

Principle >> P Words
Principle, definition of term: Principle
principle_pag1.html

Contradiction >> C Words
Contradiction, definition of term: Contradiction
contradiction_pag1.html

Contradiction I >> C Words
Contradiction I, definition of term: Contradiction I
contradiction+i_pag1.html

Vital Principle >> V Words
Vital Principle, definition of term: Vital Principle
vital+principle_pag1.html

Kiss Principle >> K Words
Kiss Principle, definition of term: Kiss Principle
kiss+principle_pag1.html