Ottoman Empire

American  

noun

1. a former Turkish empire that was founded about 1300 by Osman and reached its greatest territorial extent under Suleiman in the 16th century; collapsed after World War I. Constantinople.

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Ottoman Empire British  

noun

1. Also called: Turkish Empire.  the former Turkish empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa, which lasted from the late 13th century until the end of World War I

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Ottoman Empire ¹ Cultural  

1. An empire developed by the Turks between the fourteenth and twentieth centuries; it was succeeded in the 1920s by the present-day republic of Turkey. At its peak, the Ottoman Empire included, besides present-day Turkey, large parts of the Middle East and southeastern Europe.

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Ottoman Empire ² Cultural  

1. An empire developed by Turks between the fourteenth and twentieth centuries. It was succeeded in the 1920s by the present-day republic of Turkey. At its greatest extent, the Ottoman Empire included many parts of southeastern Europe and the Middle East.

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Example Sentences

It became a vibrant crossroads under the Ottoman Empire, said Artega, 55, and its population grew to around 25,000 as a construction boom took off.

From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026

They persist in this largely Christian country because Adjara, directly neighboring Turkey, was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

On my mother’s side, my great-grandparents’ families left Syria as the first World War broke up the Ottoman Empire and European powers redrew borders and installed new colonial rule over the region.

From Slate • May 29, 2025

Britain took control of the area known as Palestine in World War One, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled that part of the Middle East.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2025

Turkey’s Armenian population, a vulnerable minority in the Ottoman Empire, suffered grievously during the war.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman