PRIMUM MOBILE, in the Ptolemaic astronomy, the ninth or highest sphere of the heavens, the centre of which is that of the world, and in comparison with which the earth is but a point. This is supposed to contain within it all other spheres, and to give them motion, turning them quite round, as well as revolving itself, in twenty-four hours.
PRINCE is the Latin princeps (primus-capio), a word used originally to denote the princeps senatus of the Roman state. Originally, he was custos of the city; subsequently the name became a title of dignity, and he was called by the censors. Augustus and his successors adopted the title of princeps, and it was employed henceforward to denote the master of the Roman world. By and bye the term prince came to be applied to individuals having personal pre-eminence, such as the old princes of Wales, who enjoyed the same right and exercised the same power which belong to kings. Of a somewhat different kind were the powers enjoyed by the heads of certain German states comprehended in the Germanic confederation. The term is employed in a somewhat arbitrary manner on the Continent, possessing none of the definiteness which belongs to such words as king, duke, marquess, &c., but rather to denote persons of eminent rank. In England the term is almost entirely restricted to persons of the blood-royal. The eldest son of the sovereign is made Prince of Wales by creation.
PRINCE'S METAL, PRINCE RUPERT'S METAL, or PINCHBECK, an alloy of copper and zinc, which has a resemblance to gold.