empire

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.

noun

1. A political unit, typically having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or nations (especially one comprising one or more kingdoms) and ruled by a single supreme authority.
   the Russian empire
   States and empires fail when they are no longer the solution, they are the problem. February 7, 2022, Charles Hugh Smith, How Empires Die
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[…] 2001-08-02, P. J. Marshall, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire, Cambridge University Press, page 105
   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. 2021-04-13, Daniel Verdier, Democracy and International Trade: Britain, France, and the United States, 1860-1990, Princeton University Press, page 139
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.” 2002, Evelyn L. Damore, The Rattle and Hiss of the Tin Gods, iUniverse, page 111
   The Mafia never forgave Castro but Lansky had already laid the foundations of a mob gambling empire all over the Caribbean […] 2009, Martin Short, The Rise of the Mafia, Kings Road Publishing
5. (Absolute) control, dominion, sway.
   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. 1881, François Guizot, The History of Civilization from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the French Revolution..., page 122
   With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 1
   […] 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: […] 2010, Stefania Tutino, Empire of Souls: Robert Bellarmine and the Christian Commonwealth, Oxford University Press, page 270

adj

1. Alternative letter-case form of Empire.