empire French · revision 17682

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la imperō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.piʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''empire''' ''m'' (plural empires)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|empirie]] (about 1050) and [[m|fro|emperie]] (about 1120); ''empire'' from about 1100.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an early borrowing, [[bor|la|imperium|t=command; supreme power; empire]], derived from [[m|la|imperō|t=to command]], the verb behind [[empereur]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(FEW|4, 587b)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary treats it as inherited through [[fro|empire]].^(Wiktionary) Littré notes that the spelling ⟨emperie⟩ is etymological and that the word was pronounced ⟨empeire⟩ or ⟨empire⟩.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|emperi]], [[es|imperio]] and [[it|imperio]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) ''empirie'' names a state under the authority of an emperor.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the first half of the 12th century it also meant power or authority over something, especially the sovereign authority of a ruler; in the 12th century it could also mean an army or a gathering of vassals, as in the ''Chanson de Roland'': ''semon les oz de tun empire''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(AND) Medieval writers played on ''empire'' “realm” and ''empire'' “worsening”, from [[empirer]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ At the end of the 16th century (Du Vair, about 1593) it came to mean any state or group of states under a central government.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) By metonymy (1668, La Fontaine) it named a place where power is exercised, now literary: ''l'empire des morts'', the underworld.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) From the 17th century it also named a powerful state and its territory, whence ''pas pour un empire'', not for anything in the world.^(DHLF 1992) Figuratively it is the hold exercised by something, as ''l'empire de la mode'' or ''sous l'empire de la colère''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) Applied to the regimes of Napoleon I and Napoleon III, ''Empire'' became the name of a furniture and decorative style.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Empirie'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Empire'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1120 – ''Emperie'' “power, authority” in the Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1593 – Du Vair: any state with a central government.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – Corneille: absolute domination over people and things.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1668 – La Fontaine: a place where power reigns.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' Absolute authority or domination: ''l'empire du monde''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Strong influence, [[m|en|hold]]: ''sous l'empire de la colère'', ''avoir de l'empire sur soi-même'', to have [[m|en|self-control]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The sovereign authority of an [[empereur|alt=emperor]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # An [[m|en|empire]], a state or group of states under an emperor or a central power: ''l'Empire romain'', ''l'Empire ottoman''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Le Premier, le Second Empire'': the regimes of Napoleon I and Napoleon III, ''style Empire'', their decorative style.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Pas pour un empire'': not for anything in the world.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[empereur]]

+ * [[impératrice]]

+ * [[impérial]]

+ * [[la|imperium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}