empress

noun

em·​press ˈem-prəs 

1

: the wife or widow of an emperor

2

: a woman who is the sovereign or supreme monarch of an empire

Examples of empress in a Sentence

the Emperor and Empress of Japan

Catherine the Great was Empress of Russia.

Recent Examples on the Web

Cookware This is something for the big-splashy-meal cook in your life—the king of the standing rib roast, the empress of the whole pig on a spit, the generalissimo of the hundred-person clam bake. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2024

Archaeologists subsequently uncovered a platform at the site with statue bases inscribed with the names of 14 Roman emperors and empresses. —Patricia Failing, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2024

Directed by Scott's son, Jake Scott, Kelce stars in the commercial as a gladiator alongside the other athletes and Megan, 29, who plays an empress. —Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2024

Partnering with Pepsi, the Houston rapper sits as an empress, celebrating the return of the NFL season and the release of Paramount Pictures’ Gladiator II in theaters this fall. —Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 5 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English emperice, emperes (with assimilation of the suffix to -esse -ess), borrowed from Anglo-French emperice, empereis, going back to Late Latin imperātrīc-, imperātrīx (Latin, "female general [used ironically]"), from Latin imperāre "to give orders, exercise authority, hold political power" + -trīc-, -trīx, feminine agent suffix — more at emperor

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

empress

noun

em·​press ˈem-prəs 

1

: the wife or widow of an emperor

2

: a woman who is the ruler of an empire