empire

CEFRB1

/ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group of countries ruled by one powerful country or leader.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A political unit ruled by an emperor or empress.

Examples

  • Romans did not want their empire to decline; but it did.

  • The empire absorbed all the small states.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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

More examples

In context

  • These invasions almost led to the collapse of the Roman Empire.

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

  • the McDonald's fast food empire

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The ancient Roman blank once ruled lands across three continents.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.