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A prince (from the Latin princeps) is a male member of royalty or a royal family. A female prince is known as princess. Although this is the most commonly understood definition, there are also different systems in different countries.

On the European continent, notably in the German system, a prince is something more than a mere noble, but not necessarily royal, which makes comparing it with the British system of royal princes difficult.

In the Russian system, "knyaz" (translated as "prince", e.g., Prince Potemkin) is the highest degree of nobility, and sometimes, represents a mediatization of an older native dynasty which became subject to the Russian imperial dynasty. Rurikid branches used the knyaz title also after they were succeeded by the Romanovs as the Russian imperial dynasty.

A teritorry over which a prince rules is called principalityPrince Albert of Monaco on the left represents a principality where he wields adminisitrative authority. Prince Charles of Wales represents a titular principality with no administrative authority. A principality is a monarchial feudatory or sovereign stat.

A prince or princess may be:

• The head of state in a monarchyFor related meanings see also Monarch (disambiguation A monarchy (from the Greek monos archein , meaning "one ruler") is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. The distinguishing characteristic of monarchies is that the Head of State ho which is too small to be called a kingdom. A present-day example is Prince Rainier IIIHis Serene Highness Prince Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi) (born May 31, 1923), is the hereditary Prince and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. His full titles and styles are His Serene Highness Rainier III, Prince of of the principalityPrince Albert of Monaco on the left represents a principality where he wields adminisitrative authority. Prince Charles of Wales represents a titular principality with no administrative authority. A principality is a monarchial feudatory or sovereign stat of MonacoThe Principality of Monaco known as Munegu in the local dialect, is a city state and the second-smallest country in the world, wedged in between the Mediterranean Sea and France along the French Riviera or Cote d'Azur (The Blue Coast). Consisting mostly o. (I.e. a " FürstFor Furst the uniquely German title of nobility that is best translated as " Prince", see below. In the general sense, the German word Furst refers to a ruler, as in Machiavelli's The Prince''. Thus a king, a duke, and a Furst in the narrow sense are all" in GermanGerman (called Deutsch in German in which germanisch refers to prechristian times), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and one of the world's major languages. It is the language with the most native speakers in the European Union..)

• The child of a monarch (king or queen-regnant), and in the direct line of succession also other members of the royal family, styled a "royal highness". The precise rules for the succession are fixed by law. (e.g. a "Prinz" in German.)

• The husband of a reigning queen is usually titled prince or prince consort.

• A member of the higher nobility in certain countries and periods. Foreign-language titles such as Italian principe, German Fürst, Russian kniaz, etc., are often rendered as prince in English. For example, one can talk about Prince Bismarck (Ger. Fürst B.).

• The term has also been used to describe the head of a feudal state; for example, it has been used as a synonym for duke at times.

• In a similar sense, those who held land and titles within the Catholic Church hierarchy were sometimes designated " princes of the Church ".

See also:

• List of British princes
• List of British princesses
• grand duchy,
• grand duke,
• grand duchess,
• fürst,
• ranks of nobility and peerage,