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Em·pire 1 (ŏm-pîr, ĕmpīr)
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adj.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a neoclassic style, as in clothing or the decorative arts, prevalent in France during the early 1800s.

[After the First Empire, of France (1804-1815).]
(click for a larger image)
Empire1
top: portrait of Désirée Clary (1777-1860), crowned Queen of Sweden in 1829, by François Gerard (1770-1837)
bottom: c. 1804 chair from the boudoir of Josephine Bonaparte, from the shop of Georges Jacob (1739-1814) and his son François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770-1841)
(click for a larger image)
Empire1

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Em·pire 2 (ĕmpīr)
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n.
A variety of apple having dark red skin and white flesh.

[After the Empire State, nickname for the state of New York, where it was developed.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
em·pire (ĕmpīr)
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n.
1.
a. A political unit having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or nations and ruled by a single supreme authority.
b. The territory included in such a unit.
2. An extensive enterprise under a unified authority:a publishing empire.
3. Imperial or imperialistic sovereignty, domination, or control:the extension of empire to distant lands.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin imperium, from imperāre, to command; see EMPEROR.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.