“原则”一词,英文对等应是“Principle”,A principle is a law or rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed (From Wikipedia),意为“法则、原理、规范、操守、道义”。在中文中,可以解释为“事物的本质,事物的原生规则”、“观察问题、处理问题的准则”。因此,与“原则”对等的中文词汇有“规则”、“法则”、“准则”等。