empire

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
10
Words With Friends
12
Letters
6
Pronunciation
/ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/
See all 6 pronunciations
/ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/ · /ˈɛm.paɪ̯.ə/ · /ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɹ/ · /ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɚ/ · /ˈɛmpaɪə/ · /ˈɛmpaɪɚ/

Definition of empire

24 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  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”
    “States and empires fail when they are no longer the solution, they are the problem.”
See all 24 definitions

noun

  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”
    “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.
    “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[…]”
    “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”
    ““Revenues for Jackson's non-profit empire sky-rocketed from $4 million in 1997, to more than $14 million just two years later.””
    “The Mafia never forgave Castro but Lansky had already laid the foundations of a mob gambling empire all over the Caribbean […]”
  5. control, dominion, sway.
    “Each master whim maintains its hour of empire, And obstinately faithful to its dictates”
    “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.”
    “With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.”
    “[…] 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: […]”

adj

  1. (alt-of, not-comparable)Alternative letter-case form of Empire.
  2. (not-comparable)Following or imitating a style popular during the First French Empire (1804–1814).
    “However, the first style of this century was known as Empire furniture. It was a derivative of the French Empire furniture, popular at that time.”
  3. (not-comparable)Following or imitating a style popular during the First French Empire (1804–1814).
    “...and for a moment he could not identify the lady in the Empire dress, nor imagine why her presence created such excitement among the initiated.”
  4. (British, dated, not-comparable)Produced in a dependency of the British Empire or Commonwealth of Nations.
    “Wine from Portugal and France showed an irregular downward tendency over the period, while Empire wine from Australia and British South Africa rose rapidly, the former increasing nearly threefold between 1925 and 1927.”

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Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

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.

Anagrams of empire

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