principle
A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief.
Example
“We need some sort of principles to reason from.”
Other meanings
A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem.
“The principle of least privilege holds that a process should only receive the permissions it needs.”
moral rule or aspect.
“I don't doubt your principles.”
Word history
From Latin "prīncipium" (beginning, foundation).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “principle” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.