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.
The proponents of this new set of first principles, most prominently among them the 28th president, Woodrow Wilson, called it progressivism.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Jefferson articulated America’s first principles, but without Washington’s leadership, those principles wouldn’t have survived.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
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
But he was able to strip things down to first principles and do things more efficiently.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2024
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
