principium

From prīnceps (“first, foremost”) +‎ -ium (“suffix forming abstract nouns”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /priːnˈki.pi.um/, [priːŋˈkɪ.pi.ũ]

prīncipium n (genitive prīncipiī); second declension

1. a beginning, an origin
   • [90-110] Iōannēs, [John], Biblia [Bible], volume Novum Testāmentum [New Testament] (canonical gospel, in Aramaic), Ēvangelium secundum Iōannem [Gospel according to John], chapter 1, verse 1, line 1–3:

     In principio erat Verbum,
     et Verbum erat apud Deum
     et Deus erat Verbum.

     In the beginning was the Word,
     the Word was with God
     and the Word was God.

     (literally, “In the beginning was the verb,
     the verb was with god
     and the verb was god.”)

2. a groundwork, a foundation
3. (in the plural) the elements, the first principles
4. (military, in the plural) the front ranks, camp headquarters

Second declension.

• principialis

• Principia Philosophiae on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la

• French: principe
• Italian: principio
• Spanish: principio

• principium in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• principium in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• principium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• principium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the elements: elementa; initia or principia rerum
    
  • to start from false premises: a falsis principiis proficisci