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imperiu

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word imperiu

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1772 More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
Latin imperium
Ultimate origin
Latin parō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin parō
Italian parare
French parade
English parade
Spanish parar
English pare
Latin imperō
Latin imperium
French empire
Romanian imperiu
Spanish imperio
From the same root
Latin apparō ← parō
Latin disparō ← parō
Latin parābilis ← parō
Latin parātus ← parō
Latin praeparō ← parō
Latin reparō ← parō
Latin sēparō ← parō
Spanish parada ← parō
Latin imperābiliter ← imperō
Latin imperātor ← imperō
Latin imperātrīx ← imperō
Latin imperitō ← imperō
Latin imperiālis ← imperium
Latin imperiōsus ← imperium

Pronunciation

  • /imˈpe.rju/[1]

Forms

imperiu n (plural imperii)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin imperium (“command, supreme power; empire”), a learned borrowing.[2][3][4][1] Tiktin notes that it may also have come through another language.[5] The Latin noun is formed on imperō (“to command”),[6] from in- and parō (“to prepare, arrange”).[1]

An older feminine form, imperie, used by Drăghici and Costache Negruzzi, is traced by the DA to Russian.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1772.[5] MDA2 cites Bălcescu's Istoria românilor sub Mihai Vodă Viteazul, where it speaks of hostility towards the Roman Empire, giving the year of its 1878 edition.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first named sovereign authority and dominion, and then the lands ruled by an emperor; it competed with the native împărăție.[4][3] The Uricariul speaks of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and Eminescu uses it of an empire to be born.[4] Eminescu also used it figuratively, of the realm of a ray of light in which dust plays.[4][7] In Transylvania, after the Union of 1918, it meant Romanian rule.[4]

Modern dictionaries add a colonial empire, a dominant state with its possessions, and the phrase sub imperiul “under the sway of”.[2][8]

Timeline

  • 1772 – the first record.[5]
  • 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary, glossed French empire.[9]
  • 1878 – the edition of Bălcescu's history, MDA2's first record.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An empire: a monarchy ruled by an emperor; împărăție.[2][1]
  2. An empire in the wider sense: a dominant state together with its colonial possessions.[2][3]
  3. (in the phrase) sub imperiul… “under the sway or influence of…, driven by…”.[2]
  4. (dated) Sovereign authority, dominion, rule.[3][4][1]

Usage notes

The plural is imperii.[2] The older feminine form imperie is obsolete.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 493
  3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1117
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. imperiu
  5. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. imperiu
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 309
  8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. imperiu
  9. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 320

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Imperiu.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/imperiu. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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