imperium
Americannoun
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command; supreme power.
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area of dominion; sphere of control or monopoly; empire.
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a nation having or exerting supreme power; superpower.
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Law. the right to command the force of the state in order to enforce the law.
noun
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(in ancient Rome) the supreme power, held esp by consuls and emperors, to command and administer in military, judicial, and civil affairs
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the right to command; supreme power
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a less common word for empire
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of imperium
1645–55; < Latin: supreme administrative power, authority, empire, equivalent to imper ( āre ) to rule ( see imperative) + -ium -ium
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.
See Examples For:
To challenge that French postcolonial imperium built by cunning, corruption and covert skullduggery, Moscow needed an operative who could match Jacques Foccart’s legendary mastery of the dirty business of empire, measure for measure.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2023
Provincial governors had imperium, or jurisdiction over a territory or military legion.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
In Poland — a nation held captive in the totalitarian Soviet imperium for decades before leading the struggle to break those chains and rejoin Europe — ideas of heroism and sacrifice endured.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
If nations are to save us from the imperium, one would expect them to operate differently from the nations of today.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022
Dictatorially extending Andean verticality, the imperium shuttled people and materiel in and out of every Andean crevice.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The court was part of the general immunity which made these quarters imperia in imperio: their exemptions from tolls and from financial contributions is parallel to their judicial privileges.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various
Even in the most elementary communities, family-organisations, as we know them, are at most imperia in imperio.
From Ancient Law Its Connection to the History of Early Society by Maine, Henry Sumner, Sir
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.
