a group of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor, empress, or other powerful sovereign or government: usually a territory of greater extent than a kingdom, as the former British Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire, Byzantine Empire, or Roman Empire.
a government under an emperor or empress.
(often initial capital letter) the historical period during which a nation is under such a government.
a history of the second French empire.
supreme power in governing; imperial power; sovereignty.
The legacy of empire is complex, and always entwined with colonialism and nationalism.
supreme control; absolute sway.
passion's empire over the mind.
a powerful and important enterprise or holding of large scope that is controlled by a single person, family, or group of associates.
The family's shipping empire was founded 50 years ago.
(initial capital letter) a variety of apple somewhat resembling the McIntosh.
(initial capital letter) characteristic of or developed during the first French Empire, 1804–15.
(usually initial capital letter) (of women's attire and coiffures) of the style that prevailed during the first French Empire, in clothing being characterized especially by décolletage and a high waistline, coming just below the bust, from which the skirt hangs straight and loose.
(often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to the style of architecture, furnishings, and decoration prevailing in France and imitated to a greater or lesser extent in various other countries, c1800–30: characterized by the use of delicate but elaborate ornamentation imitated from Greek and Roman examples or containing classical allusions, as animal forms for the legs of furniture, bas-reliefs of classical figures, motifs of wreaths, torches, caryatids, lyres, and urns and by the occasional use of military and Egyptian motifs and, under the Napoleonic Empire itself, of symbols alluding to Napoleon I, as bees or the letter N.
See British Empire
French history
the period of imperial rule in France from 1804 to 1815 under Napoleon Bonaparte
Also called: Second Empire. the period from 1852 to 1870 when Napoleon III ruled as emperor
denoting, characteristic of, or relating to the British Empire
denoting, characteristic of, or relating to either French Empire, esp the first: in particular, denoting the neoclassical style of architecture and furniture and the high-waisted style of women's dresses characteristic of the period
an aggregate of peoples and territories, often of great extent, under the rule of a single person, oligarchy, or sovereign state
any monarchy that for reasons of history, prestige, etc, has an emperor rather than a king as head of state
the period during which a particular empire exists
supreme power; sovereignty
a large industrial organization with many ramifications, esp a multinational corporation
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin imperium “mastery, sovereignty, empire”; see empery
An empire is a group of countries or territories that are under the control of a single entity but it can be used figuratively too. She rules her cosmetics empire well, with a solid knowledge of lipsticks, eye shadows, and more. Have you ever heard the phrase, “The sun never sets on the British Empire?” This came about because during the 1800s countries in every time zone around the globe were ruled by England, and it was always daytime in one of them. Although other empires have existed back through time to the original Roman Empire, perhaps the most well-known empire today comes from the popular Star Wars films in which the rebels fight Darth Vader and his evil Empire.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The business empire of Dodgers and Lakers owner Mark Walter reportedly is being probed by the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The BuzzFeed purchase is the latest in a series of business moves Allen has made in recent years to build his entertainment empire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
For much of his career, he has let his luxury empire speak for him, carefully sculpting his own public image through a handful of select interactions with the media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
At the Kuchurgan power station, located on the shore of a reservoir bordering Ukraine, she discovers how a facility that once powered a chunk of the former Soviet empire now enables a digital gold rush.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
What would stop Stalin from continuing to expand the borders of his empire?
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Hottle played a young orphan named Jia in the monster film series, and reprised the role in the 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, so Renaissance thinking went, were the cultural ancestors of the “West,” an imagined cultural space then beginning to take shape.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
The actress, who is deaf, played the major role of "Jia" in "Godzilla v Kong" and the sequel "Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire."
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Dangerously high temperatures will also affect the Inland Empire, inland Orange County, the valleys in San Diego County and the deserts and mountains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
They are the first harbingers of a tradition of portraiture that will continue unbroken until the collapse of the Roman Empire.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
Like fellow Nvidia supplier Foxconn, Wistron is one of the Taiwanese electronics firms that built their empires manufacturing consumer gear for tech giants like Apple, but are now pivoting toward AI hardware.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
In turn, Nolan has sacrificed Odysseus himself to serve his own needs, scrapping the character’s prickly personality to Trojan-horse a message about how empires collapse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
It offers not only a fresh portrait of India's most controversial Mughal ruler, but also a rare glimpse of how one of the world's great early-modern empires actually worked.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
A U.S. naval officer, historian, and military theorist, Mahan argued that control of the seas was the key to empires from Rome to Britain.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
For that reason they are generally referred to as empires.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
