# prince

> English word · Noun · IPA /pɹɪns/ · frequency rank #1,960

## Definitions
1. A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch.
2. A female monarch.
3. Someone who is preeminent in their field; a great person.
4. The (male) ruler or head of a principality.
5. A male member of a royal family other than the ruler; especially (in the United Kingdom) the son or grandson of the monarch.
6. A non-royal high title of nobility, especially in France and the Holy Roman Empire.
7. A type of court card used in tarot cards, the equivalent of the jack.
8. The mushroom Agaricus augustus.
9. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Rohana.

## Etymology
From Middle English prince, from Anglo-Norman prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) + capiō (“seize, take”). Cognate with Old English fruma (“prince, ruler”). Doublet of princeps and principe.
Displaced native Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling; Middle English kinebarn, from Old English cynebearn; Middle English alder, from Old English ealdor; and Middle English drighten, from Old English dryhten.

## Easily confused with
- **prize** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-prize)
- **print** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-print)
- **prone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-prone)
- **prune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-prune)
- **prints** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-prints)
- **printed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-printed)
- **printer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-printer)
- **princes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-princes)
- **Pringle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-pringle)
- **princess** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-princess)
- **province** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-province)
- **princely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prince-vs-princely)
- **pine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pine-vs-prince)
- **price** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/price-vs-prince)
- **piece** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/piece-vs-prince)
- **prime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prime-vs-prince)
- **pride** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pride-vs-prince)
- **pinch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pinch-vs-prince)
- **pence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pence-vs-prince)
- **prick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prick-vs-prince)

## Common misspellings (9)
`pirnce`, `pprince`, `pricne`, `princce`, `prinec`, `prinnce`, `prnice`, `prrince`, `rpince`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/prince