Editing Prince (section)

{{Short description|Son of a ruler or a title of nobility}}
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{{Redirect-distinguish|Princes|Princess}}
{{other uses|Prince (disambiguation)|Princes (disambiguation)|Princess (disambiguation)}}
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[[File:Grandconde.jpg|thumb|275px|[[Louis, Grand Condé|Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé]], was the {{lang|fr|premier prince du sang}} during his lifetime (painted by Joost van Egmont).]]
{{Ranks of Nobility}}
A '''prince''' is a [[Monarch|male ruler]] (ranked below a [[king]], [[grand prince]], and [[grand duke]]) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of [[nobility]] (often highest), often [[hereditary title|hereditary]], in some [[Europe]]an [[State (polity)|states]]. The female equivalent is a [[princess]]. The [[English language|English word]] derives, via the [[French language|French word]] ''prince'', from the [[Latin]] noun {{Lang|la|[[princeps|prīnceps]]}}, from {{Lang|la|primus}} (first) and {{Lang|la|caput}} (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble [[monarch|ruler]], prince".<ref>Cassell's Latin Dictionary, ed. Marchant & Charles, 260th thousand</ref>

In a related sense, now not commonly used, all more or less sovereign rulers over a state, including kings, were "princes" in the language of international politics. They normally had another title, for example king or duke. Many of these were [[Princes of the Holy Roman Empire]].