(philosophy, rhetoric) The principle according to which an argument should be evaluated in light of its best, strongest possible interpretation.

plural of agreement in principle

(cryptography) The idea that a cryptosystem should be designed to be secure even if everything about the system, except the secret key, is public knowledge.

(sociolinguistics) The idea that listeners and speakers need to cooperate in order to communicate effectively.

(biochemistry, archaic) Any of a class of substances found ready-formed in animal and vegetable tissues, and separable by chemical analysis, such as albumin, sugar, collagen, fat, etc.

(physics) The observation that, out of the great range of all possible conditions on Earth, the actual conditions are all “just right” in order to support life.

(psychology, psychoanalysis, Freudianism, often hyphenated when used attributively) The principle that human decisions and behavior are strongly motivated by the instinctual desire of the id, arising in infancy, to experience pleasure and avoid pain.

plural of proximate principle

plural of equivalence principle

plural of Micawber principle