Princeps

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈprɪn.sɛps/

Definitions

1. A chief magistrate or leader in ancient Rome, or a ruling monarch or sovereign in general
2. A supreme leader or first citizen holding paramount authority in a state or empire, particularly in ancient Rome or other monarchies
3. A primary leader or head official typically seen as the foremost authority within a governance structure, especially in the context of historical Rome or other principalities

Etymology: Before it named a head of state, "princeps" was a plain Latin adjective meaning "first" or "foremost," built from "primus" ("first") and "capere" ("to take"), so its literal sense is close to "one who takes the first place." Roman writers applied it to the leading man of the Senate, and it was the title Augustus preferred when he set up the imperial system, which is why historians call that arrangement the Principate. The Latin noun "princeps" was the source of the English word, borrowed directly rather than inherited through French. The English form is a doublet of "prince" and "principe," meaning that all three come from the same Latin root but reached the language by different routes. "Prince" came through Old French and became the ordinary word for a royal son, while "princeps" was borrowed later as a learned term, keeping the Latin stress and sense of rank as the foremost figure among equals.