1. In statistics and data analysis, a linear combination of variables that captures the maximum variance in a dataset, used in principal component analysis (PCA)
The first principal component explained 65% of the variance in the data.
O primeiro componente principal explicou 65% da variância nos dados.
2. A key or most important element or part of something
Education is a principal component of social development.
A educação é um componente principal do desenvolvimento social.