prime directive
noun1
An order or mission which presents the overriding control over a course of action.
- We are, after all, discussing the prime directive of academic life and a vitally important rule of civilized life in general: Seek and disseminate the truth.1902, Michigan Law Review, University of Michigan Law School, page 1949:
- Such probes would not invalidate the prime directive that a work of art must stand upon its intrinisic artistic merits1946: University of Iowa/University of Chicago, The Journal of General Education, p. 160
1 more example
- The prime directive of Austrian policy was the preservation of this state of affairs.1955, René Albrecht-Carrié, Europe After 1815, page 32: