empress

American  

[em-pris] / ˈɛm prɪs /

noun

1. a female ruler of an empire.

2. the consort of an emperor.

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empress British  

/ ˈɛmprɪs /

noun

1. the wife or widow of an emperor

2. a woman who holds the rank of emperor in her own right

3. a woman of great power and influence

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Gender

See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of empress

1125–75; Middle English emperice, emperesse < Anglo-French; Old French emperesse, empereriz < Latin imperātrīcem, accusative of imperātrix, feminine of imperātor. See emperor, -trix

Explanation

An empress is either a female emporer or the wife of an emporer. Either way, it's a powerful woman. There are a lot of words that have gender built into them, like fireman and waitress. Another is empress, which is a female emperor. An emperor is like a king: a person with absolute power over a country. An empress is therefore like a queen. Also, just as a queen is the wife of a king, an empress might be the wife of an emperor, meaning she's not the ruler of the country but just married to the ruler.

Example Sentences

First Minister Eluned Morgan, then a member of the European Parliament for mid and west Wales, revealed she still had a pair of wellington boots "with Sea Empress oil on them" after helping out.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

Andy Warhol traveled to Iran to paint Empress Farah in 1977.

From Salon • Jan. 22, 2026

If the thieves who dropped Empress Eugenie’s crown outside the Louvre during this year’s heist, sparked an interest in jeweled headgear, try this encyclopedic guide to the world’s most famous tiaras.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025

Among them are an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.

From Barron's • Nov. 1, 2025

They were all so respectful and stiff with her, that she might have been the Empress of Japan.

From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston