1) main person in a business. 2) employer, the person hiring and directing employees
(agents) to perform his/her/its business. It is particularly important to determine
who is the principal since he/she/it is responsible for the acts of agents in the
"scope of employment" under the doctrine of respondeat superior. 3) in criminal
law, the main perpetrator (organizer and active committer) of a crime, as distinguished
from an "accessory" who helps the principal in some fashion. The criminal principal
is usually the person who originates the idea of committing the crime and/or directly
carries it out, and is more likely to be charged with a higher degree of the crime,
and receive a stiffer prison sentence. 4) adj. chief, leading, highest.
See also accessory agency agent respondeat superior
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