emperor English · revision 6621

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=la impero}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹə/, /ˈɛmpʰ(ə)ɹə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹɚ/, /ˈɪ̟mp(ə)ɹɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English empereur, emperour, [[bor|fro|empereor]], the oblique case of emperere,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|imperātor|t=commander, emperor]] (accusative imperātōrem),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|impero|alt=imperāre|t=to command]], from [[m|la|in-]] and [[m|la|paro|alt=parāre|t=to prepare]] (see [[empire]]).^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The sovereign of the Roman Empire: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'', in Barnhart, before 1225 in the OED;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the early 13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) 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.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) A title of sovereignty above king, as of the rulers of China or Japan, is from about 1400;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Napoleon took the title ''Emperor of the French'' in 1804.^(Etymonline) Several large butterflies and moths, such as the purple emperor (1773), and the emperor penguin are named from the word.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – the Roman emperor.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1297 – the Holy Roman Emperor.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – any supreme sovereign.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1773 – the purple emperor butterfly.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1804 – Napoleon, Emperor of the French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The male ruler of an [[empire]], ranking above a [[king]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of several large butterflies or moths, such as the purple emperor.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[emperorship]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[empire]]

+ * [[empress]]

+ * [[imperial]]

+ * [[imperialism]]

+ * [[imperative]]

+ * [[imperious]]

+ * [[prepare]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}