imperial

See also: Imperial and impérial

English

Etymology

From Middle English imperial, from Old French imperial, from Latin imperiālis (“of the empire or emperor, imperial”), from imperium (“empire, imperial government”) + -ālis, from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (“form of in”) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”). Displaced Old English cāserlīċ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɪ.ɹi.əl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

imperial (comparative more imperial, superlative most imperial)

1. Related to an empire, emperor, or empress.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     the imperial diadem of Rome

2. Relating to the British imperial system of measurement.
   • 2023, Patrick Lejtenyi, Food price perception can depend on whether it is measured in imperial or metric, according to new Concordia research‎^[1], Concordia University News:

     Using imperial units such as pounds makes fresh produce look cheaper than it really is, and it might be luring consumers away from frozen produce, which could possibly provide the same nutritional benefits at lower cost.

3. Very grand or fine.
4. Of special, superior, or unusual size or excellence.

Synonyms

• (humorous): in old money

Derived terms

• eastern imperial eagle
• free imperial city
• imperial circle
• Imperial City
• Imperial County
• imperial cypher
• imperial decree
• imperial disease
• imperial drill
• imperial examination
• imperial gallon
• imperial India pale ale
• imperialism
• imperialist
• imperialities
• imperiality
• imperial jade
• imperial knight
• imperially
• imperial pint
• imperial prince
• imperial princess
• imperial shag
• mint imperial
• neo-imperial

 

Related terms

• emperor
• empire
• empress
• imperious

 

Translations

related to an empire

• Arabic: إِمْبِرَاطُورِيّ‎ (ʔimbirāṭūriyy), مَلَكِيّ‎ (malakiyy)
• Armenian: կայսերական (hy) (kayserakan)
• Belarusian: імпе́рскі (impjérski), імпера́тарскі (impjerátarski), ца́рскі (cárski)
• Bulgarian: импе́рски (impérski), ца́рски (bg) (cárski)
• Catalan: imperial (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 帝國的／帝国的 (zh) (dìguó de), 皇帝的 (zh) (huángdì de)

• Czech: říšský (cs), imperiální, císařský (cs)
• Danish: kejserlig
• Dutch: keizerlijk (nl), rijks- (nl)
• Esperanto: imperia
• Finnish: keisarillinen (fi)
• French: impérial (fr)
• Galician: imperial
• German: kaiserlich (de)
• Greek: αυτοκρατορικός (el) (aftokratorikós)
• Hungarian: birodalmi (hu), császári (hu)
• Indonesian: imperial (id)
• Irish: impiriúil
• Italian: imperiale (it)
• Japanese: 天皇の (ja) (てんのうの, tennō no), 皇帝の (ja) (こうていの, kōtei no)
• Korean: 제국의 (ko) (jegugui)
• Latin: imperiālis, dominicus
• Macedonian: царски (carski), империја́лен (imperijálen)
• Manx: ard-reeoil, ard-rheamagh
• Middle English: imperial
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: keiserlig (no)

  Nynorsk: keisarleg

• Old English: cāserlīċ
• Persian: امپراتوری‎ (fa) (emperâturi)
• Polish: cesarski (pl), imperialny (pl)
• Portuguese: imperial (pt)
• Romanian: imperial (ro)
• Russian: импе́рский (ru) (impérskij), импера́торский (ru) (imperátorskij), ца́рский (ru) (cárskij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ца̑рскӣ, и̏мперијалнӣ

  Roman: cȃrskī (sh), ȉmperijalnī (sh)

• Slovak: ríšsky, imperiálny, cisársky
• Slovene: cesarski, imperialen
• Spanish: imperial (es)
• Swedish: kejserlig (sv)
• Ukrainian: імпе́рський (impérsʹkyj), імпера́торський (imperátorsʹkyj), ца́рський (uk) (cársʹkyj)
• Vietnamese: thành nội, hoàng đế (vi)

related to the British measurement system

• Bulgarian: брита́нски (británski), импе́рски (impérski), англи́йски (bg) (anglíjski)
• Czech: imperiální
• Dutch: imperiaal (nl)
• Finnish: brittiläinen (fi)
• French: impérial (fr)
• Galician: imperial
• German: imperial (de)
• Hungarian: (régi) brit mértékrendszer szerinti
• Macedonian: британски (britanski)
• Polish: imperialny (pl)
• Portuguese: imperial (pt)
• Romanian: imperial (ro)
• Russian: брита́нский (ru) (británskij), импе́рский (ru) (impérskij)
• Swedish: brittisk (sv), imperiell
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

very grand or fine

• Bulgarian: великоле́пен (bg) (velikolépen), вели́чествен (bg) (velíčestven)
• Estonian: kuninglik, majesteetlik
• Finnish: mahtava (fi), majesteettinen
• French: royal (fr)
• Greek: επιβλητικός (el) (epivlitikós), μεγαλειώδης (el) (megaleiódis)
• Hungarian: fenséges (hu), méltóságteljes (hu)
• Irish: maorga, ríúil
• Russian: великоле́пный (ru) (velikolépnyj), вели́чественный (ru) (velíčestvennyj)
• Swedish: mäktig (sv), storslagen (sv), majestätisk (sv)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

of special, superior, or unusual size or excellence

• Bulgarian: висш (bg) (visš), върхо́вен (bg) (vǎrhóven)
• Catalan: majestuós
• Estonian: kuninglik, majesteetlik
• Finnish: majesteettinen
• French: impérial (fr)
• Greek: βασιλικός (el) (vasilikós)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} kiváló (hu), ^{(please verify)} kitűnő (hu)
• Macedonian: царски (carski)
• Middle English: imperial
• Russian: ца́рский (ru) (cárskij), короле́вский (ru) (korolévskij)
• Swedish: kunglig (sv), förnäm (sv), majestätisk (sv)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Noun

imperial (countable and uncountable, plural imperials)

1. A bottle of wine (usually Bordeaux) containing 6 liters of fluid, eight times the volume of a standard bottle.
2. (paper, printing) A writing paper size measuring 30 × 22 inches, or printing paper measuring 32 × 22 inches.
3. (card games, uncountable) A card game differing from piquet in some minor details, and in having a trump.
4. (card games, countable) Any of several combinations of cards which score in this game.
5. A crown imperial.
   • 1816, John Freeman Milward Dovaston, The Sonnet:

     There are who say the sonnet's meted maze

     Is all too fettered for the poet's powers,

     Compelled to crowd his flush and airy flowers

     Like pots of tall imperials, ill at ease.

6. A tuft of hair on the lower lip (so called from its use by Napoleon III).

   Synonym: royal

7. A kind of dome, as in Moorish buildings.
8. (historical) An outside seat on a diligence or carriage.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 134–135:

     ...and she was just in time to see Mr. Boyne Sillery hand her aunt into a carriage, jump in himself, when it drove off with a rapidity which scarcely allowed her to observe that a large imperial was on the top, and her aunt's servant, with a huge bandbox, on the dickey.

9. (countable, uncountable) A variety of green tea.

Usage notes

• A champagne or Burgundy wine bottle with the same volume would be called a Methuselah.

Anagrams

• Palmieri

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imperiālis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /im.pə.ɾiˈal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.pe.ɾiˈal/

Adjective

imperial (masculine and feminine plural imperials)

1. imperial

Derived terms

• imperialisme
• imperialista

Related terms

• emperador
• imperi

Further reading

• “imperial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “imperial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “imperial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “imperial” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Adjective

imperial m or f (plural imperiais)

1. imperial

Derived terms

• imperialismo
• imperialista

Related terms

• imperio

Further reading

• “imperial” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch imperiaal, from French impérial, from Latin imperiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmpɛˈrial/
• Rhymes: -al, -l
• Hyphenation: im‧pè‧ri‧al

Adjective

impèrial

1. imperial

Related terms

• imperialis
• imperialisme
• imperialistik
• imperium

 

Further reading

• “imperial” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• inperial, imperyal, inperyal, imperyall, imperiall, emperiall, empirial

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French imperial, emperial, from Latin imperiālis; equivalent to emperie +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /impɛriˈaːl/, /imˈpɛːrial/, /ɛm-/

Adjective

imperial (plural and weak singular imperiale)

1. Imperial; related to or being of an empire or its ruler.
2. Befitting or appropriate for someone of imperial rank; superb.
3. Unsurpassed, unmatched; lacking an equal or equivalent.

Descendants

• English: imperial
• Scots: imperial

References

• “imperiā̆l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-24.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imperiālis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.pe.ɾiˈaw/ [ĩ.pe.ɾɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ĩ.peˈɾjaw/ [ĩ.peˈɾjaʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.pɨˈɾjal/ [ĩ.pɨˈɾjaɫ]

• Hyphenation: im‧pe‧ri‧al

Adjective

imperial m or f (plural imperiais)

1. imperial

Derived terms

• imperialismo
• imperialista

Related terms

• império
• imperador

Noun

imperial f (plural imperiais)

1. (Portugal, regional) draft beer
   • 2013, Afonso Cruz; Alice Vieira; André Gago; Catarina Fonseca; David Machado, A misteriosa mulher da ópera, Leya, →ISBN, page 155:

     «Traga-me mais uma imperial», disse eu ao empregado. Tinha uma praticamente cheia, mas não gosto de ser apanhado desprevenido. O Juvenal julgou que era para ele e agradeceu, eu disse-lhe «nada», e peguei na imperial, passei as ...

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   Synonyms: (Portugal, regional) fino, (Brazil) chope

Further reading

• “imperial” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French impérial and Latin imperiālis. By surface analysis, imperiu +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌim.pe.riˈal/

Adjective

imperial m or n (feminine singular imperială, masculine plural imperiali, feminine and neuter plural imperiale)

1. imperial

Declension

Declension of imperial

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	imperial		imperială	imperiali	imperiali
	definite	imperialul		imperiala	imperialii	imperialile
genitive/ dative	indefinite	imperial		imperiali	imperiali	imperiali
	definite	imperialului		imperialii	imperialilor	imperialilor

Related terms

• imperialism
• imperiu
• împărat

Scots

Adjective

imperial (comparative mair imperial, superlative maist imperial)

1. imperial

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imperiālis (“of the empire or emperor, imperial”), from imperium (“empire, imperial government”) + -ālis, from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (“form of in”) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /impeˈɾjal/ [ĩm.peˈɾjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: im‧pe‧rial

Adjective

imperial (plural imperiales)

1. imperial

Derived terms

• cormorán imperial
• flor imperial
• garza imperial
• imperialismo
• imperialista
• imperialmente
• manjar imperial

 

Related terms

• emperador
• imperio

 

Further reading

• “imperial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014