# imperial

Pronunciation: say "im-PEER-ee-uhl" US /ɪmˈpɪɹ.i.əl/, UK/AUS /ɪmˈpɪə.ɹi.əl/

## Adjective

1. Belonging to or connected with an empire, or with an emperor or empress.
   - Simple: Having to do with an empire, or with an emperor or empress.
   - _The imperial court moved to the summer palace each July._
   - _Under imperial rule, the provinces paid heavy taxes to the capital._
2. Relating to the British imperial system of weights and measures, with units such as the pound.
   - Simple: Using the British system of measuring, with units like pounds.
   - _Many older British cookbooks list ingredients in imperial measures._
   - _The engineer converted the imperial figures on the old blueprints into metric._
3. Very grand or fine, with an air of great splendor.
   - Simple: Very grand and fancy.
   - _The new opera house, with its marble staircase and gilded ceilings, has a truly imperial grandeur._
   - _The banquet was an imperial affair, with twelve courses and a string orchestra._
4. Stronger than the typical version of its kind, especially of a beer or other alcoholic drink.
   - Simple: Stronger than usual, especially for beer or other drinks with alcohol.
   - _The brewery's imperial pilsner has nearly twice the alcohol of its standard pilsner._
   - _Some craft brewers now make imperial versions of many styles, from porter to mead._

## Noun

5. A small tuft of beard grown on the lower lip, so called because Napoleon III wore one.
   - Simple: A small tuft of hair grown on the lower lip, like a tiny beard.
   - _In the old photograph, the general sports a waxed mustache and a pointed imperial._
   - _His barber trimmed the imperial into a neat point beneath his lip._
6. A large wine bottle, usually of Bordeaux, that holds 6 liters, eight times as much as a standard bottle.
   - Simple: A very big wine bottle that holds 6 liters, as much as eight normal bottles.
   - _The auction's top lot was an imperial of 1982 Bordeaux._
   - _The cellar held a few magnums and two dusty imperials._
7. A paper size measuring 30 by 22 inches for writing paper or 32 by 22 inches for printing paper.
   - Simple: A large size of paper, 30 by 22 inches for writing or 32 by 22 inches for printing.
   - _Many watercolor painters buy their paper by the full sheet of imperial and cut it down._
   - _The printer quoted a price for five hundred sheets of imperial for the new catalog._
8. A particular variety of green tea.
   - Simple: A kind of green tea.
   - _The tea merchant weighed out a quarter pound of imperial and a quarter pound of black tea._
   - _Steep the imperial for only two minutes, or the green leaves will turn bitter._
9. A crown imperial, a tall flowering plant.
   - Simple: A tall plant with flowers, also called a crown imperial.
   - _Each spring the tall imperial by the garden gate bursts into bloom._
   - _The nursery sold out of potted imperials within a week._
10. A card game much like piquet, differing from it in a few minor details and in having a trump suit.
   - Simple: A card game like piquet, but with a trump suit and a few other small changes.
   - _Players who know piquet can pick up imperial in an afternoon, since the trump is the main new rule._
   - _After dinner the two old friends settled down to a game of imperial._
11. Any of several scoring combinations of cards in the card game imperial.
   - Simple: In the card game imperial, any of the groups of cards that win points.
   - _Declaring an imperial early in the hand put her well ahead._
   - _By the end of the deal he had shown three imperials and doubled his score._
12. A seat on the roof or outside of a carriage, such as a diligence or other stagecoach.
   - Simple: A seat on the roof or outside of a carriage or coach.
   - _Passengers on the imperial were exposed to the dust and rain of the open road._
   - _She bought a place on the imperial of the evening diligence to Lyon._
13. A trunk or suitcase designed to travel on the roof of a carriage.
   - Simple: A big case for clothes, made to be carried on the roof of a carriage.
   - _The footman hoisted the heavy imperial onto the carriage roof and strapped it down._
   - _A leather imperial still bearing its first owner's initials sold at auction last month._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Larger or better than the usual kind; of special size or superior quality.
- (noun) A type of dome, such as those found on Moorish buildings.

## Origin

From Middle English imperial, from Old French imperial, from Latin imperiālis (“of the empire or emperor, imperial”), formed from imperium (“empire, imperial government”) + -ālis. Imperium comes from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (“in”) + parō (“prepare, arrange”). The word displaced Old English cāserlīċ.

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