Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Empire in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels empire as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Empire

[F., fr. L. imperium a command, sovereignty, dominion, empire, fr. imperare. See Emperor; cf. Imperial.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordempire
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F., fr. L. imperium a command, sovereignty, dominion, empire, fr. imperare. See Emperor; cf. Imperial.]
Selected historical definitionSupreme power; sovereignty; sway; dominion.
Signed record IDwebster1913-empire-noun-a3e21f6b18b8
Source locatorCIDE.E, paragraph 2805; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "empire" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F., fr. L. imperium a command, sovereignty, dominion, empire, fr. imperare. See Emperor; cf. Imperial.]" The selected historical definition says: "Supreme power; sovereignty; sway; dominion."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Enjoy

[OF. enjoier to receive with joy; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. & F. joie joy: cf. OF. enjoir to enjoy. See Joy.]

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