Etymology

empire

em·pire
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Today it means: A political state, often a monarchy, that has achieved a much greater current size than its initial size by conquering surrounding territories, cities or nations. Full definition →

Middle English empire ← Old French empire ← Latin imperium
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empire · noun, adjective1

  1. Latin · derived fromimperium
  2. Old French · derived fromempire
  3. Middle English · inherited fromempire
  4. English todayempire

From Middle English empire, from Old French empire, empere, from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) + parare (“to make ready, order”). Doublet of empery and imperium.

Empire · adjective, proper noun2

See empire.

Words from the same roots

Latinimperium all →

imperiumempery

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.