first principles

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Ilyse Hogue: I go back to first principles on a lot of the projects that I work on.

From Slate • May 18, 2026

There are first principles on what makes a career: It’s something you enjoy, that you’re good at and that’s useful to someone else.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

The prime minister insisted to me it was the first principles that motivated him – driving down child poverty, improving the NHS and schools.

From BBC • Nov. 27, 2025

For us to truly understand something, we have to be able to re-create the effect from first principles, if the principles at work are indeed what create the effect.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2025

Aristotelian philosophy had been based on the idea that one ought to be able to deduce sciences from generally accepted first principles, so that all science would be comparable to geometry.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton