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.

“We have to get back to first principles, basic issues, of auditing,” Atkins said at a conference in December.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

All departments have also reassessed spending from first principles, as part of a "zero-based" review.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2025

But sometimes the most important work is simply clearing the debris, removing the judicial inventions that cloud the text, and returning to first principles.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 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