Second Empire

American  

noun

1. the empire established in France (1852–70) by Louis Napoleon: the successor to the Second Republic.

---

Second Empire British  

noun

1. 1. the imperial government of France under Napoleon III

   2. the period during which this government functioned (1852–70)

2. the style of furniture and decoration of the Second Empire, reviving the Empire style, but with fussier ornamentation

---

Example Sentences

The Augustuses demolished the Second Empire residence on the property and hired a renowned New York architect, Louis Bancel LaFarge, to design the Georgian Revival mansion.

From Washington Post • Sep. 24, 2020

A brass-and-bronze oil lamp with a green glass shade hung over a stone-topped Second Empire table with griffon’s feet and ivory dominoes scattered around three blue willowware teacups.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2019

Paris Commune: the insurrection of Paris against the government in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war, in which France was defeated, and led to the collapse of Napoleon III’s Second Empire.

From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2018

The great and controversial French Romantic poet and novelist — “Les Miserables,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Legend of the Ages” — had run afoul of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, dictator of the Second Empire.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2018

The payment of members continued as under the Second Empire, the salary now being fixed at 9000 francs a year in both houses, or about a pound sterling a day.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 7 "Fox, George" to "France" by Various