Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or suggestive of an empire or a sovereign, especially an emperor or empress.
- adjective Ruling over extensive territories or over colonies or dependencies.
- adjective Having supreme authority; sovereign.
- adjective Regal; majestic.
- adjective Outstanding in size or quality.
- adjective Of or belonging to the British Imperial System of weights and measures.
- noun An emperor or empress.
- noun The top of a carriage.
- noun Something outstanding in size or quality.
- noun A variable size of paper, usually 23 by 33 inches (55.8 by 83.8 centimeters).
- noun A pointed beard grown from the lower lip and chin.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A member of the imperial or emperor's party; a soldier of the imperial army.
- noun An imperial personage; an emperor.
- Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor or empress.
- Of or pertaining to supreme authority, or to one who wieldsit; sovereign; supreme; august; commanding.
- Fit or suitable for an emperor; hence, of imposing size or excellence.
- In the old German empire, a city directly subordinate to the empire, having a seat and vote in the Reichstag. The constitutions of such cities varied greatly, some being democratic and others aristocratic. Of the fifty-one impperial cities existing in the eighteenth century, nearly all lost their practical independence in 1803, and were annexed to other states. Three of them —Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck - are members of the modern German empire.
- noun A gold coin issued by imperial authority; specifically, a Russian gold coin of the eighteenth century, of the value of 10 rubles. The half-imperial, of 5 rubles, is still coined.
- noun In architecture, an imperial roof or dome.
- noun The top of a carriage, especially of a diligence; hence, a case for luggage carried on the top of a coach.
- noun A small part of the beard left growing from the middle of the chin near the under lip, the rest being shaved off: so called from the emperor Xapoleon III., who wore his beard in this way.
- noun Anything of unusual size or excellence, as a large decanter, etc.
- noun A size of writing-paper, 22 × 30 inches; also, a size of printing-paper, 22 × 32 inches.
- noun A size of slates, 2 feet wide and from 1 foot to 2½ feet in length.
- noun A rich fabric in use throughout the middle, ages, the material and nature of which are unknown, except that it was often enriched by the use of gold.
- noun A game at cards mentioned as having been played by Henry VIII.
- noun A beverage made by dissolving half an ounce of cream-of-tartar in three pints of boiling water, and adding four ounces of white sugar and half an ounce of fresh lemon- peel.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The tuft of hair on a man's lower lip and chin; -- so called from the style of beard of Napoleon III.
- noun An outside seat on a diligence.
- noun A luggage case on the top of a coach.
- noun Anything of unusual size or excellence, as a large decanter, a kind of large photograph, a large sheet of drawing, printing, or writing paper, etc.
- noun A gold coin of Russia worth ten rubles, or about eight dollars.
- noun A kind of fine cloth brought into England from Greece. or other Eastern countries, in the Middle Ages.
- noun A game at cards differing from piquet in some minor details, and in having a trump; also, any one of several combinations of cards which score in this game.
- adjective Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor
- adjective Belonging to, or suitable to, supreme authority, or one who wields it; royal; sovereign; supreme.
- adjective Of superior or unusual size or excellence
- adjective etc. See
Bushel ,Gallon , etc. - adjective the, the sovereign court of the old German empire.
- adjective under the first German empire, a city having no head but the emperor.
- adjective an assembly of all the states of the German empire.
- adjective (Manuf.) See under 8th
Drill . - adjective (Zoöl.) See
Eagle . - adjective See Paris green, under
Green . - adjective the royal guard instituted by Napoleon I.
- adjective the standards legalized by the British Parliament.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Related to an
empire ,emperor , orempress . - adjective Relating to the British
imperial system of measurement.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"_Item_ -- They shall tell him about a meeting between the imperial and ducal ambassadors, at which meeting there was some talk of making a kingdom out of certain lands of Monseigneur and joining these to an _imperial_ vicariate of all the lands and principalities lying along the Rhine."
Charles the Bold Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477 Ruth Putnam
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The relation of England to her free colonies is not in the proper sense of the term imperial, while her relation to such dependencies as Gibraltar and Malta is military alone.
Lectures and Essays Goldwin Smith 1866
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Vietnam has fought off five of what it calls imperial intrusions over the centuries — the Mongols, Han Chinese, French, Americans and modern Chinese — thanks to its incredible discipline and self-sacrifice.
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Nevertheless, the statement admitted that his condition was serious, but that because of the -- what it called the imperial plans of the United States, the details of his condition had to be guarded as a state secret.
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And I wanted to get your reaction this morning to a piece that ran in the "Washington Post," where they talked about George Bush basically restoring what they call the imperial presidency.
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He remarked: -- "The parliament of Great Britain sits at the head of her extensive empire in two capacities -- one as the local legislature of this island, with the executive power as her instrument of action; the other and nobler capacity is what I call her imperial character, by which she guides and controls all the inferior and provincial legislatures."
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. From George III. to Victoria Edward Farr
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Club the word "imperial" is not typically used as a perjorative adjective.
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So while the Russian imperialists may have had a head start in imperial aggression, we are in there pitching to this day.
Think Progress » Kristol: The Russians ‘in some ways have brought’ suicide bombings ‘on themselves.’ 2010
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The equipment and fittings used on them were in imperial units.
More Poor Excuses On NASA's Fear of the Metric System - NASA Watch 2009
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Now NASA needs additional funding to do the same amount of work it could have done in imperial units.
More Poor Excuses On NASA's Fear of the Metric System - NASA Watch 2009
reesetee commented on the word imperial
In rare/antique book printing, a type of octavo.
February 20, 2007