Etymologically
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emperor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:08. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹə/, /ˈɛmpʰ(ə)ɹə/ (UK); /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹɚ/, /ˈɪ̟mp(ə)ɹɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English empereur, emperour, borrowed from Old French empereor, the oblique case of emperere,[2][3][4] from Latin imperātor (“commander, emperor”) (accusative imperātōrem),[2][3][5] from imperāre (“to command”), from in- and parāre (“to prepare”) (see empire).[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sovereign of the Roman Empire: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle, in Barnhart, before 1225 in the OED;[2][7] the early 13th century in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

The Latin imperātor was a title voted by the Roman army to a victorious general, later given by the Senate to Julius Caesar and Augustus and taken by their successors.[3][6] In English it was used first of the Roman emperors and then of the head of the Holy Roman Empire (1297), who in German documents is the kaiser.[7][3][6] A title of sovereignty above king, as of the rulers of China or Japan, is from about 1400;[7][3] Napoleon took the title Emperor of the French in 1804.[3] Several large butterflies and moths, such as the purple emperor (1773), and the emperor penguin are named from the word.[7][8]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – the Roman emperor.[2][7]
  • 1297 – the Holy Roman Emperor.[7]
  • c. 1400 – any supreme sovereign.[7]
  • 1773 – the purple emperor butterfly.[7]
  • 1804 – Napoleon, Emperor of the French.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The male ruler of an empire, ranking above a king.
  2. Any of several large butterflies or moths, such as the purple emperor.

Word family

  • emperorship

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins