What's the difference between principle and theory?

Principle


Definition:

  • (n.) Beginning; commencement.
  • (n.) A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.
  • (n.) An original faculty or endowment.
  • (n.) A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate.
  • (n.) A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle.
  • (n.) Any original inherent constituent which characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential properties, and which can usually be separated by analysis; -- applied especially to drugs, plant extracts, etc.
  • (v. t.) To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet, or rule of conduct, good or ill.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Stress is laid on certain principles of diagnostic research in the event of extra-suprarenal pheochromocytomas.
  • (2) However, as the same task confronts the Lib Dems, do we not now have a priceless opportunity to bring the two parties together to undertake a fundamental rethink of the way social democratic principles and policies can be made relevant to modern society.
  • (3) To a supporter at the last election like me – someone who spoke alongside Nick Clegg at the curtain-raiser event for the party conference during the height of Labour's onslaught on civil liberties, and was assured privately by two leaders that the party was onside about civil liberties – this breach of trust and denial of principle is astonishing.
  • (4) The White House denied there had been an agreement, but said it was open in principle to such negotations.
  • (5) Using the MTT assay and analyzing the data using the median-effect principle, we showed that synergistic cytotoxic interactions exist between CDDP and VM in their liposomal form.
  • (6) The heretofore "permanently and totally disabled versus able-bodied" principle in welfare reforms is being abbandoned.
  • (7) The binding follows the principle of isotope dilution in the physiologic range of vitamin B12 present in human serum.
  • (8) The principle of the liquid and solid two-phase radioimmunoassay and its application to measuring the concentrations of triiodothyronine and thyroxine of human serum in a single sample at the same time are described in this paper.
  • (9) Spectrophotometric tests for the presence of a lysozyme-like principle in the serum also revealed similar trends with a significant loss of enzyme activity in 2,4,5-T-treated insects.
  • (10) All these strains produced an enterotoxic principle, antigenically related to cholera coli family of enterotoxins, as detected by latex agglutination and immuno-dot-blot tests.
  • (11) The basic principle of the resonant tool, its adaptation for surgery, the experimental results of its use in animals, and clinical experience are reported.
  • (12) It seems tragic, then, that so little of these principles transfer over to the container in which the work is done.
  • (13) This conception of the city as an expression of both regal power and social order, guided by cosmological principles and the pursuit of yin-yang equilibrium, was unlike anything in the western tradition.
  • (14) The general principles of bypass surgery as they affect the cerebral circulation are reviewed.
  • (15) The interest of this view resides in the resulting general principle of classification and interpretation of all forms of disease, giving rise to an "existenialistic pathology".
  • (16) Eight of the UK's biggest supermarkets have signed up to a set of principles following concerns that they were "failing to operate within the spirit of the law" over special offers and promotions for food and drink, the Office of Fair Trading has said.
  • (17) Although the general guiding principle of pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders--the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time--remains, this rule should not interfere with the judicious use of medications as long as the benefits justify it.
  • (18) In older stages, the cervical joints rotate according to geometric and lever arm principles.
  • (19) Spain’s constitutional court responded by unanimously ruling that the legislation had ignored and infringed the rules of the 1978 constitution , adding that the “principle of democracy cannot be considered to be separate from the unconditional primacy of the constitution”.
  • (20) The principles and practice of aneasthesia for patients having coronary bypass grafts are discussed.

Theory


Definition:

  • (n.) A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation.
  • (n.) An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.
  • (n.) The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.
  • (n.) The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This theory was confirmed by product analysis and by measuring the affinity of the substrate for the enzyme by its inhibition of p-nitrophenyl glucoside hydrolysis.
  • (2) The position of the cyst supports the theory that branchial cysts are congenital in origin.
  • (3) It helped pay the bills and caused me to ponder on the disconnection between theory and reality.
  • (4) Implications of the theory for hypothesis testing, theory construction, and scales of measurement are considered.
  • (5) This observation, reinforced by simultaneous determinations of cortisol levels in the internal spermatic and antecubital veins, practically excluded the validity of the theory of adrenal hormonal suppression of testicular tissues.
  • (6) In 1935, Einstein challenged the prevailing interpretation of quantum theory.
  • (7) These results are interpreted in terms of the accessory binding site theory of Ariëns, and suggest the existence of different accessory binding sites on the Ascaris GABA receptor.
  • (8) September 11 conspiracies Facebook Twitter Pinterest September 11 conspiracy theories.
  • (9) This theory is supported by a previous experimental report.
  • (10) On the assumption of a distribution in properties of the suspension according to the theory of Bruggeman, the capacitance is calculated to have a value of about one half this.5.
  • (11) These findings do not support the theory that 5-HT1C receptor activation causes migraine.
  • (12) Only one part of the theory of Alajouanine and colleagues has been confirmed by our experiments for our results have shown that there is a very close correlation between semantic paraphasias and disorders of semantic differentiation whilst no correlation can be found between phonemic paraphasias and disturbances in auditory phonemic discrimination.
  • (13) A new theory for the peculiar site selection of cholesteatomas of the external auditory canal is postulated.
  • (14) However, our theory differs in several important respects from the latter efforts.
  • (15) This paper provides an overview of the theory, indicating its contributions--such as a basis for individual psychotherapy of severe disorders and a more effective understanding of countertransference--and its shortcomings--such as lack of an explanation for the effects of physical and cognitive factors on object relatedness.
  • (16) The various theories of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) are reviewed.
  • (17) Comparison with values predicted from theory shows that the distribution of protein among the various cross-linked species, obtained after different extents of exposure to cross-linker, is consistent with a two-layered arrangement of subunits involving one type of interaction between subunits from different layers and another between subunits within the same layer.
  • (18) For each theory, a constraint on preformance is proposed based on interference between the "analytic" and "synthetic" pitch perception modes.
  • (19) Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker has refused to say whether he believes in the theory of evolution, arguing that it is “a question a politician shouldn’t be involved in one way or the other”.
  • (20) These findings support the theory that plasma-membrane-cytoskeleton interactions have a role in the expression of specific immunity; the findings also identify new areas that should be considered in trying to understand the primary immunodeficiency diseases.