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

Example Sentences

In a rare interview, his mother, the former empress Farah Pahlavi told AFP from her home in Paris in written answers to questions there was "no turning back" after the wave of protests.

From Barron's

Among the stolen pieces was a large, diamond-encrusted bow brooch that belonged to the same empress.

From The Wall Street Journal

A crown of the empress Eugénie was left at the scene and is being examined to see if it is damaged.

From BBC

Recording from his home in Pasadena, he has played men and women of all ages, races, nationalities and abilities, as well as “postapocalyptic people living in trees and empresses of fictitious planets,” he notes.

From Los Angeles Times

She credits much of her fearlessness as a performer to her time spent on the Hulu series “The Great,” on which she played a fictionalized version of Russian empress Catherine the Great.

From Los Angeles Times