a basic truth or law or assumption | (psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the id; the principle that an infant seeks gratification and fails to distinguish fantasy from reality |
a rule or standard especially of good behavior | |
(law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature) | |
a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct | |
a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system | |
rule of personal conduct | |