# empire

Pronunciation: US say "EM-pyr" /ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɹ/; UK say "EM-py-uh" /ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/

## Noun

1. A large group of countries or territories under a single supreme ruler or government, especially one ruled by an emperor or empress or built up by conquest.
   - Simple: A group of countries ruled by one powerful ruler or government, often an emperor.
   - _The coronation confirmed her as ruler of an empire stretching across the islands._
   - _For centuries the empire was governed from a single imperial court._
2. A large and powerful enterprise under the control of a single person or group.
   - Simple: A very large and powerful business or organization run by one person or group.
   - _Over thirty years he assembled a retail empire spanning four countries._
   - _After the founder's death, control of the empire passed to her three children._
3. The group of territories that owe allegiance to a ruling power, considered separately from that power's own native land; its imperial possessions.
   - Simple: The lands that a ruling country controls far from home, not counting its own home country.
   - _Raw materials shipped from the empire kept the home country's factories running._
   - _After losing its overseas empire, the country had to rethink its place in the world._

## Adjective

4. Alternative letter-case form of Empire: in the neoclassical style of the First French Empire, used of furniture and dress, especially a dress with its waistline just below the bust.
   - Simple: Alternative letter-case form of Empire, meaning in an early 1800s French style, especially a dress with a very high waist.
   - _The designer revived the empire silhouette for her spring collection._
   - _Many portraits from the era show women in empire dresses with raised waistlines._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Supreme control, dominion, or sway exercised over others or over a domain.

## Origin

From Middle English empire, from Old French empire, from Latin imperium ('command, control, dominion, sovereignty, empire'), from imperare ('to command, order'), formed from in ('in, on') plus parare ('to make ready, order'). It is a doublet of empery and imperium.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/empire (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).