Imperial

How to spell imperial

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce imperial

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does imperial mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to an empire, an emperor, or grand and commanding authority.
2. adjectiveRelating to the British system of weights and measures using pounds, ounces, pints, and miles.

Imperial in a sentence

• The museum displays the crown jewels of the old imperial court.

• The recipe lists the flour in both metric and imperial units.

• The palace was decorated with imperial splendour to impress visiting heads of state.

• Older road signs gave the distance in imperial miles instead of kilometres.

Where does imperial come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin imperialis, meaning 'belonging to an empire or emperor', which was built on imperium, the noun for supreme command or authority, and ultimately on the verb imperare 'to command'. That verb itself joined in- 'in, upon' with parare 'to prepare or make ready', so the original idea was of giving orders and putting things in order. English took the word in during the 1300s through Old French imperial, at first to describe anything connected with an emperor or his rule. Over the centuries the sense broadened to cover the grand, the commanding, and eventually the British system of weights and measures sanctioned by parliament. The same imperium root sits inside 'empire', 'emperor', and 'imperative', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the -per- of command rather than any extra vowels.

How the word is built

• imper- (from Latin imperium: command, empire)
• -ial (adjective suffix)