principate
/ˈpɹɪns.əˌpeɪt/
"principate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“principate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The early period of the Roman Empire, during which some characteristics of the government of the Roman Republic were retained; the reign of any particular emperor during said period.
Corpus desk
Index EN-principate · principate · English
principate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | principate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɹɪns.əˌpeɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “principate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
principate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɹɪns.əˌpeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
principate doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin prīncipātus, referring to the titles prīnceps senātūs (“first among senators”) and prīnceps cīvitātis (“first among citizens”), adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus in order to preserve the illusion of formal continuance of some … The correct English form is principate, spelled P-R-I-N-C-I-P-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1The early period of the Roman Empire, during which some characteristics of the government of the Roman Republic were retained; the reign of any particular emperor during said period.
- 2The office of one who is principal or preeminent (such as a prince); the quality or status of being principal; preeminence.
- 3A state ruled by a prince; a principality.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how principate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The history of the courts and of judicial procedure during the principate is closely parallel to that of the government as a whole.
The transition from republic to Principate brought a new and potent factor into the legal picture of the Roman state, the princeps or emperor.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin prīncipātus, referring to the titles prīnceps senātūs (“first among senators”) and prīnceps cīvitātis (“first among citizens”), adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus in order to preserve the illusion of formal continuance of some aspects of the Roman Republic.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.