first principles
nounUK /ˌfɜːst ˈprɪnsəplz/
US /ˌfɝːst ˈprɪnsəplz/
The basic ideas you start with when you want to understand or build something.
Instead of copying the old design, the engineer went back to first principles and worked out a brand-new way to build the bridge.
RELATED WORDS
OTHER MEANINGS
2. The simplest, most basic facts or rules of a subject, from which everything else is worked out.
In math class we learned the first principles of geometry before trying any hard problems.
3. A way of thinking that builds an answer from scratch instead of copying what others do.
Her first-principles approach helped the team solve a problem everyone else had given up on.
4. The starting rules or beliefs that a system, law, or machine is built on.
The rules of the game rest on a few first principles that every player must know.