核心畫面

You can think of principality as the -ity ending doing its usual job on principal: it turns being first into a thing you can point at. What you point at is usually a place — the land where the first person, the prince, is in charge. Because a prince stands one step below a king, that land is usually small: one town, a river, a flag, a ruler who signs his own letters. The same root idea of standing first also names a rank in the old order of angels, and in British writing the capital-letter form settles on one country, Wales.

「principality」可以想成 -ity 對 principal 做了它平常做的事:把「居首」變成一個可以指出更多收起「principality」可以想成 -ity 對 principal 做了它平常做的事:把「居首」變成一個可以指出來的東西。指出來的多半是一個地方。那是「居首者」——也就是 prince——當家的那塊地。因為 prince 比 king 低一級,那塊地通常不大。一個鎮、一條河、一面旗,還有一位自己簽信的統治者。同樣是「居首、統領」這個想法,也被拿去命名天使位階裡的一級。而在英國的文字裡,大寫的形式最後固定指一個國家:威爾斯。

From the word’s history

The source traces the word through Middle English principalte to Late Latin prīncipālitās, from Latin prīncipālis (principal) plus -tās; it is principal + -ity.

來源資料說這個字經由中古英語 principalte 回到晚期拉丁文 prīncipālitās,來自拉丁文 prīncipālis(principal)加 -tās,等於 principal + -ity。

Wiktionary entry for principality, etymology_text supplied in this packet: "From Middle English principalte... from Latin prīncipālis (principal) + -tās. Equivalent to principal + -ity." (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:256509400)

Two branches

親王當家的地方

「居首者的地位」落在土地上,就成了一個國家的名稱。

noun · B2

A country or region whose ruler is a prince or a princess rather than a king or a queen. Most are small.

公國

位階裡的一級

同樣是「居首、統領」,但落在階級系統上,不落在土地上。

noun · C2

In Christian tradition, one of the ranks of angels: principalities sit above archangels and below powers. The word is nearly always plural.

權天使