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principal

noun [C usually singular] (MONEY)
 
 
/ˈprɪn.sɪ.pəl/ specialized

Definition

an amount of money that someone has invested in a bank or lent to a person or organization so that they will receive interest on it from the bank, person, or organization: She lives off the interest and tries to keep the principal intact.Savings, interest and capitalFinancial investments and the stock market
(Definition of principal noun (MONEY) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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