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

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

The state visit to the UK by the emperor and empress of Japan will go ahead later this month, says Buckingham Palace.

From BBC