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nt or controversy; the point of view from which any one proceeds to a discussion; also, a principle laid down as the basis of reasoning; a proposition; a thesis; as, to define one's position; to appear in a false position. Let not the proof of any position depend on the positions that follow, but always on those which…

ing and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts. Bouvier.

The influence, doctrines, principles, etc., of priests or the priesthood. [R.]

A first principle or element.

A principal or essential point or rule; a principle. [Obs.]

First principles; fundamental beginnings; elements; as. Newton's Principia.

Relating to principles or beginnings. [R.] Jer. Taylor.

arguments producible for it than can be brought against it. South. I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have before asserted them to be morally certain. Bp. Wilkins.

of acts or measures; to act by method; to prosecute a design. He that proceeds upon other principles in his inquiry. Locke.

vements. And kindle with thy own productive fire. Dryden. This is turning nobility into a principle of virtue, and making it productive of merit. Spectator.

fligate; a profligate or very vicious course of life; a state of being abandoned in moral principle and in vice; dissoluteness.

Broken down in respect of rectitude, principle, virtue, or decency; openly and shamelessly immoral or vicious; dissolute; as, profligate man or wretch. A race more profligate than we. Roscommon. Made prostitute and profligate muse. Dryden.

A necessary truth or assumption; a first or assumed principle.

Capable of being spread or extended by any means; -- said of tenets, doctrines, or principles.

Hence, any organization or plan for spreading a particular doctrine or a system of principles.

The art or practice of propagating tenets or principles; zeal in propagating one's opinions.

A person who devotes himself to the spread of any system of principles. "Political propagandists." Walsh.

The portion one receives when a whole is distributed by a rule or principle; equal or proper share; lot. Let the women . . . do the same things in their proportions and capacities. Jer. Taylor.

suitableness to an acknowledged or correct standard or rule; consonance with established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness; as, propriety of behavior, language, manners, etc. "The rule of propriety," Locke.

A nitrogenous phosphorized principle found in brain tissue. By decomposition it yields neurine, fatty acids, and other bodies.