empire

From Middle English empire, from Old French empire, empere, from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) + parare (“to make ready, order”). Doublet of empery and imperium.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ĕmʹpīə, ĕmʹpī-ə, IPA^(key): /ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/, /ˈɛm.paɪ̯.ə/
• (General American) enPR: ĕmʹpīr', ĕmʹpī'ər, IPA^(key): /ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɹ/, /ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: em‧pire

empire (plural empires)

1. A political state, often a monarchy, that has achieved a much greater current size than its initial size by conquering surrounding territories, cities or nations.

   the Russian empire

   • 2022 February 7, Charles Hugh Smith, How Empires Die‎^[1]:

     States and empires fail when they are no longer the solution, they are the problem.

2. A political unit ruled by an emperor or empress.

   The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived client state of Japan governing Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.

3. The group of states or other territories that owe allegiance to an imperial power (foreign to them), when distinguished from the native territory of that power; imperial possessions.
   • 2001 August 2, P. J. Marshall, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 105:

     British people [...] continued to believe in empire. It was what gave Britain a unique role in the world, and in return Britain had drawn strength from its empire to enable it to survive two great wars that had wrecked so many of its competitors. Imperial management in the twentieth […]

   • 2021 April 13, Daniel Verdier, Democracy and International Trade: Britain, France, and the United States, 1860-1990, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 139:

     Since Britain imported mainly foodstuffs from its empire, no preferences could be granted to the colonies without Britain first imposing a tariff on foodstuffs imported from other countries.

4. An expansive and powerful enterprise under the control of one person or group.

   the McDonald's fast food empire

   • 2002, Evelyn L. Damore, The Rattle and Hiss of the Tin Gods, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 111:

     “Revenues for Jackson's non-profit empire sky-rocketed from $4 million in 1997, to more than $14 million just two years later.”

   • 2009, Martin Short, The Rise of the Mafia, Kings Road Publishing, →ISBN:

     The Mafia never forgave Castro but Lansky had already laid the foundations of a mob gambling empire all over the Caribbean […]

5. (Absolute) control, dominion, sway.
   • 1781, Horace Walpole, The Mysterious Mother, Act 1 Scene 1:

     Each master whim maintains its hour of empire,
     And obstinately faithful to its dictates

   • 1881, François Guizot, The History of Civilization from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the French Revolution..., page 122:

     The brutality, the unthinking, the unreflecting character of the barbarians were so great, that the new faith, the new feelings with which they had been inspired, exercised but a very slight empire over them.

   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 1:

     With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.

   • 2010, Stefania Tutino, Empire of Souls: Robert Bellarmine and the Christian Commonwealth, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 270:

     […] could gain some political strength for the pope, but in so doing the pope would lose the uniqueness and supremacy of his empire over souls: […]

empire (not comparable)

1. Alternative letter-case form of Empire.

• “empire”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “empire”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “empire”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• E-Prime, epimer, permie, premie

• IPA^(key): /ˈempire/, [ˈe̞mpire̞]
• Rhymes: -empire
• Syllabification^(key): em‧pi‧re
• Hyphenation^(key): em‧pi‧re

empire

1. (art) ellipsis of empiretyyli (“Empire style”)

• “empire”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.piʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Inherited from Old French empire, from Latin imperium.

empire m (plural empires)

1. empire
2. influence, authority, dominion
   • 1640, Pierre Corneille, Horace, act 4, scene 7:

     Quelle injustice aux Dieux, d'abandonner au femmes / Un empire si grand sur les plus belles âmes

     What injustice from the gods, to give up for women / Such great dominion over the most beautiful souls

• empereur
• impératrice
• impérial

• Russian: ампи́р (ampír)

empire

1. inflection of empirer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “empire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• périmé, primée

• émpiere
• empir (apocopic)

From Vulgar Latin *implīre~*implĕre, from Latin implēre.

• IPA^(key): /emˈpi.re/
• Rhymes: -ire
• Hyphenation: em‧pì‧re

empìre (first-person singular present émpio, first-person singular past historic empìi or (less common) empiéi, past participle empìto or (less common) empiùto, auxiliary avére) (transitive)

1. (uncommon, literally) to fill [with di ‘with’]
2. (figuratively) to fill, to stuff [with di ‘with’]

   empire di gioia ― to fill with joy

   empire la testa di qualcuno di chiacchiere ― to fill someone's head with chatter

3. (archaic or literary) to satisfy, to satiate

• riempire

• pieno

• permei, premei

• empyre, enpyre
• empir, empyere, enpir (Northern, Northeast Midland)
• empere, empeyr (Late Middle English)

Borrowed from Old French empire, empere, from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) +‎ parare (“to make ready, order”). Doublet of emperie.

• IPA^(key): /ɛmˈpiːr(ə)/, /ˈɛmpiːr(ə)/

empire

1. emperorship (rank or office of an emperor)
2. empire (the domain of an emperor or empress)
3. (rare) total power or influence, especially when wielded by gods
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[3], published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:5-6, folio 117, verso; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     [⁊ of iheſu criſt] þat is a feiþful witneſſe .· þe firſte bigeten of deed men · ⁊ pꝛynce of kyngis of þe erþe / which louyde vs / ⁊ waiſchide vs fro oure ſynnes in his blood .· / ⁊ made vs a kyngdom / ⁊ pꝛeſtis to god ⁊ to his fadir / to hym be gloꝛie ⁊ empire .· in to woꝛldis of woꝛldis

     [of Jesus Christ,] / who is a reliable witness, the firstborn of the dead, and sovereign over the rulers of the Earth, who loved us, cleansed us from our sins with his blood, / and made us a kingdom / and priests of God and his father. To him are glory and power for many ages.

4. (rare) a region of control; a field or zone
5. (rare, Christianity) the Kingdom of Heaven

• English: empire
• Scots: empire

• “empīre, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 March 2019.

Inherited from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) + parare (“to make ready, order”).

• IPA^(key): /emˈpiɾə/, (late) /amˈpiɾə/

empire oblique singular, m (oblique plural empires, nominative singular empires, nominative plural empire)

1. empire

• French: empire
• → Middle English: empire
  • English: empire

Borrowed from French Empire.

empire m or f or n (masculine plural empiri, feminine/neuter plural empire)

1. (art) Empire

• empire in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN