Etymology

imperial

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Today it means: Related to an empire, emperor, or empress. Full definition →

First used 19th c.Middle English imperial ← Old French imperial ← Latin imperiālis
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromimperiālis“of the empire or emperor, imperial”
  2. Old French · derived fromimperial
  3. Middle English · inherited fromimperial
  4. English todayimperial

From Middle English imperial, from Old French imperial, from Latin imperiālis (“of the empire or emperor, imperial”), from imperium (“empire, imperial government”) + -ālis, from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (“form of in”) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”). Displaced Old English cāserlīċ.

First known use, by meaning

  • 19th c. Clipping of Imperial Japanese.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.