emperor

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈemp(ə)ɹə/ UK /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹə/ See IPA manual

Freq #2475

Meanings

1

noun
The ruler of an empire

In imperial China, the emperor held absolute power over the land.
2

noun
The title used by such a ruler

He was crowned Emperor in a grand ceremony.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms emperors

Derived forms antiemperorchimperorcoemperoremperorismemperoristemperorlikeemperorshiptrumperor

Related forms empire empress imperial imperialism imperially

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

emperor penguin
the largest type of penguin, native to Antarctica

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

The emperor has no clothes

Simplified etymology

Emperor entered English in the Middle Ages and ultimately comes from Latin imperator, “military commander,” from imperare, “to command.” Imperator became a title of Julius Caesar, Augustus, and later Roman rulers; English emperor first denoted those rulers and then the head of the Holy Roman Empire.

Etymology

From Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperō (“to command”). Doublet of imperator. Displaced earlier Old English casere, from Latin Caesar.

emperour Middle English empereor xno imperator Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# emperor

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈemp(ə)ɹə/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹə/
**Frequency rank:** 2475

## Meanings
1. The ruler of an empire
2. The title used by such a ruler

## Examples
- In imperial China, the emperor held absolute power over the land.
- He was crowned Emperor in a grand ceremony.

## Derived Forms
- antiemperor
- chimperor
- coemperor
- emperorism
- emperorist
- emperorlike
- emperorship
- trumperor

## Related Forms
- empire
- empress
- imperial
- imperialism
- imperially

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: emperour
- Root: empereor
- Root: imperator

## Etymology
From Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperō (“to command”). Doublet of imperator. Displaced earlier Old English casere, from Latin Caesar.

## AI Etymology
Emperor comes from Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperō (“to command”). Doublet of imperator. Displaced earlier Old English casere, from Latin Caesar. In current use, the main senses are “The ruler of an empire” and “The title used by such a ruler”.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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