- principle, rule - a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct; "their principles of composition characterized all their works"
--1 is a kind of generalization, generalisation, generality
--1 has particulars: pillar; yang; yin; feng shui - principle - a rule or standard especially of good behavior; "a man of principle"; "he will not violate his principles"
--2 is a kind of value
--2 has particulars:accounting principle, accounting standard; chivalry; ethic, moral principle, value-system, value orientation; Hellenism; legal principle, judicial principle, judicial doctrine; scruple - principle - a basic truth or law or assumption; "the principles of democracy"
--3 is a kind of law, natural law
--3 has particulars:dictate; fundamentals, basics, fundamental principle, basic principle, bedrock; logic; pleasure principle, pleasure-pain principle, pleasure-unpleasure principle; reality principle; conservation; Tao - principle, rule - a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system; "the principle of the conservation of mass"; "the principle of jet propulsion"; "the right-hand rule for inductive fields"
--4 is a kind of law, law of nature
--4 has particulars:- principle, precept - rule of personal conduct
--5 is a kind of rule, prescript
--5 is a part of ethic, ethical code
--5 has particulars:higher law; moral principle; hypothetical imperative; caveat emptor - rationale, principle - (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature); "the rationale for capital punishment"; "the principles of internal-combustion engines"
--6 is a kind of explanation
--6 has particulars: dialectics - principle - a basic truth or law or assumption; "the principles of democracy"