principal

Adjective: Of first importance. In the first rank. Noun: The head of a high school or grade school. The amount of an original indebtedness as distinguished from interest accruing. The corpus of an estate in property. In an agency relationship, the person for whom another acts and from whom he derives authority to act. 3 Am J2d Agency § 1. In bail and recognizance:–the person released on bail. 8 Am J2d Bail § 1. The party to a suretyship who enters into the main contract with the obligee, the one who is directly interested in and benefited by the main contract, and the one to whom or from whom the consideration for the main obligation flows. 50 Am J1st Suret § 3. In guaranty, the person whose obligation is covered by the undertaking of the guarantor. 24 Am J1st Guar § 29. In crime:–one actually or constructively present, and abetting the commission of the offense, that is, doing some act at the time of the commission of the crime that is in furtherance of the offense. 21 Am J2d Crim L § 120. Under Federal statutes, he who, in the commission of an illegal act with others, such as maintaining an illicit still, conducting a burglary or a holdup, arms and instructs his confederates to kill if obstructed in the attempt, with the purpose and intent that they do so, is in law a principal in any wilful killing which results from carrying out those instructions. Young v United States (CA5 Tex) 97 F2d 200. See, also principal D, 1010.