emperor
Americannoun
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emperors
plural
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the male sovereign or supreme ruler of an empire.
the emperors of Rome.
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Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 48 × 72 inches (122 × 183 centimeters).
noun
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a monarch who rules or reigns over an empire
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Also called: emperor moth. any of several large saturniid moths with eyelike markings on each wing, esp Saturnia pavonia of Europe See also giant peacock moth
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See purple emperor
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Derived Forms
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Nouns
Etymology
Origin of emperor
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English empero(u)r, (from Anglo-French; Old French empereor, from Latin imperātor, originally, “one who gives orders, ruler,” equivalent to imperā(re) “to order, command” ( im- “in” + -perāre, combining form of parāre “to provide, get ready” ) + -tor noun suffix of agency; see im- 1, prepare, -tor
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Explanation
Forget prime ministers, presidents or even kings or queens: an emperor was the biggest, baddest ruler of them all — the leader of undisputed power who controlled a nation or, more usually, a number of subjugated nations known collectively as an empire. Nowadays the emperor is no more, replaced by humbler and usually more democratic leaders, but the notion of an all-conquering larger-than-life figure lives on in the way we give the prefix emperor to particularly magnificent specimens of living things: the Emperor Butterfly, Emperor Moth and Emperor Penguin, most famously. The Roman emperors would be proud.
Vocabulary lists containing emperor
Ancient Rome - Introductory
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Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Introductory
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"The Lotus Seed"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Johnston’s instruction of Puyi stretched well beyond academic subjects; he also introduced the emperor to bicycle-riding, photography, tennis and the films of Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Beethoven brazenly yanked the dedication to Napoleon from his “Eroica” Symphony when the “hero” proclaimed himself emperor in 1804, a betrayal of the democratic ideals of the French Revolution.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Eclipses, auroras, and other extraordinary astronomical events were sometimes considered warnings that an emperor had acted improperly.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
She said the group was always on the lookout for new arrivals and had already recorded the willow emerald damselfly, the southern oak bush cricket and the purple emperor butterfly, as more species travelled north.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
“And what would the emperor want with a stone that doubles rice and dumplings? He has plenty of both!”
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
The eldest of six siblings, his name honors the last of the Aztec emperors, who was killed by the Spaniards after the conquest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Skopje is a city of statues, two or three hundred of them apparently, great big things in squares and in fountains commemorating tsars and dames, emperors and warriors, royalty and revolutionaries.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Zuckerberg has shown interest in classical history, even naming his daughters after Roman emperors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Japan's parliament tweaked the imperial succession law on Friday but maintained the bar on women emperors -- despite surveys suggesting wide public support for the idea.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Wishing, therefore, to reply to these objections, I shall discuss the characteristics of several emperors, showing the reasons for their downfall, which are not different from those that I myself have already presented.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
