imperium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪmˈpɛ.ri.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [imˈpɛː.ri.um]^[1]

Forms

imperium n (genitive imperiī or imperī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from imperō “to command” with the suffix -ium, ⟨imperō⟩ is from in- and parō “to prepare, arrange”.^[2][1][3] It is also spelled ⟨inperium⟩, as in the Lex Bantina and the Lex repetundarum.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Ennius, of supreme power and of a command.^[2] Köbler also starts with Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant first a command, an order, a sense Lewis and Short call mostly ante-classical and post-Augustan, as Plautus' imperium exsequar “I will carry out the order”.^[3][2] In Rome it was the supreme administrative power held by the kings and then by certain magistrates, and later by the emperors.^[2] It meant the authority of the head of a household, supreme military command, as in Caesar, an office involving such power, the exercise of authority, discipline, and dominion or sway over peoples.^[2][6] From Cicero onwards it also meant a particular dominion, an empire, as Carthage and Numantia, the two terrors “of this empire”.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant dominion, empire, reign, power and command.^[7] Medieval Latin used it of a king's or a majordomo's reign, a kingdom and a principality.^[8][9] It is the source of Old French empire, from which English empire came in the mid-14th century.^[1][10] The word itself was borrowed as imperium in the 1650s.^[10]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of supreme power and of a command.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a master's or father's orders.^[2][3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of military command.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the Roman empire.^[2][5]
• mid-14th century – English empire is recorded, through Old French.^[10]
• 1650s – English imperium is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Supreme administrative power, held at Rome by the kings, certain magistrates and the emperors.^[2]
2. The authority of the head of a household; supreme military command; supreme authority in any sphere.^[2]
3. An office or magistracy with supreme power; a term of such an office.^[2]
4. The exercise of authority, rule, discipline.^[2]
5. Dominion, government, sway; an empire.^[2][6]
6. A command, order, bidding.^[2][3]
7. (Medieval Latin) A reign; a kingdom; a principality.^[8]

Word family

• imperiālis
• imperiōsus
• imperiābiliter

Related words

• imperābiliter
• imperātīvē
• imperātīvus
• imperātōr
• imperātōriē
• imperātōrius
• imperātrīx
• imperātum
• imperātus
• imperiōsē
• imperō
• English empire
• English imperial
• English imperium

Usage notes

Etymonline notes the Latin phrase imperium in imperio “a state within a state”.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com