Empire

(em'pir.) [Fr., from L. imperium.] The territory or territories under the rule and government of an emperor. The old Roman E. became ultimately divided into the Eastern and Western E. The former was also called the Lower E. The Western became, towards the close of the 9th cent., the German or Holy Roman E. The term is sometimes applied to the territories of am on arch not styled emperor, as the British E. In the latter case, however, the sovereign of Great Britain derives her title of Empre from her eastern E. of India. [s. 329]