Principium

Latin-English

princĭp|ĭum, -ĭī. (prinˈtʃi.pi.um) neut.

1. A beginning; an origin.
2. An element; a principle.

[princeps.]

Loci

• αʹ Cicero, De Finibus 2.6:

Finem, inquit, interrogandi, si videtur, quod quidem ego a principio ita me malle dixeram hoc ipsum providens, dialecticas captiones.

"As I said at the beginning," he said, "because I was actually expecting just this sort of thing—dialectical fallacies—I'd rather have an end to this questioning, if you please."

• βʹ Vitruvius, De Architectura 1.4:

Namque e principiis quae Graeci στοιχεῖα appellant, ut omnia corpora sunt composita, id est e calore et umore, terreno et aere, et ita mixtionibus naturali temperatura figurantur omnium animalium in mundo generatim qualitates.

Indeed, as all bodies are composed of the elements, which the Greeks call στοιχεῖα—that is, from heat and moisture, earth and air—so also all sorts of animals in the world are formed after their kind by being mixed according to their natural proportions.