princes

Noun

prince (plural princes)

1. (archaic, historical) A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch.
   • Truely, to see our Princes all alone, sitting at their meat, beleagred round with so many talkers, whisperers, and gazing beholders, unknowne what they are or whence they come, I have often rather pittied than envied them.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 42, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
2. (obsolete) A female monarch.
   • Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex.1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC
3. Someone who is preeminent in their field; a great person.
   • He is a prince among men.
4. The (male) ruler or head of a principality.
   • He is the prince who never grew up – a one-time playboy and son of the Hollywood star Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.2011 June 26, Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian
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.
   • Prince Louis de Broglie won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physics.

See all 17 meanings of prince