Prince
Son of a ruler or a title of nobility
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Interest in “Prince” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-02-25.
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Key Takeaways
- A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family.
- The female equivalent is a princess.
- In a related sense, now not commonly used, all more or less sovereign rulers over a state, including kings, were "princes" in the language of international politics.
- Many of these were Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
- ' the one who takes the first [place/position] ' ), became the usual title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire, the princeps senatus .
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. Prince is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The female equivalent is a princess. The English word derives, via the French word prince, from the Latin noun prīnceps, from primus (first) and caput (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble ruler, prince".
In a related sense, now not commonly used, all more or less sovereign rulers over a state, including kings, were "princes" in the language of international politics. They normally had another title, for example king or duke. Many of these were Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
Historical background
The Latin word prīnceps (older Latin *prīsmo-kaps, lit. 'the one who takes the first [place/position]'), became the usual title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire, the princeps senatus.
Emperor Augustus established the formal position of monarch on the basis of principate, not dominion. He also tasked his grandsons as summer rulers of the city when most of the government were on holiday in the country or attending religious rituals, and, for that task, granted them the title of princeps.
The title has generic and substantive meanings:
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