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PlainSpell

empire

em·pire/ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɹ/noun, adjective

empire is spelled E-M-P-I-R-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (em·pire). It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, empire means “A political state, often a monarchy, that has achieved a much greater current size than its initial size by conquering surrounding territories…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of empire is empires.

How many letters and syllables are in empire?

Letters6: E-M-P-I-R-E
Syllables2: em·pire
In writing35 times per million words; the 2,785th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is empire?

Empire appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce empire?

  • UK /ˈɛm.paɪ̯ə̯/
  • UK /ˈɛm.paɪ̯.ə/
  • US /ˈɛmˌpaɪ̯ɹ/

Empire has 2 syllables, split em·pire in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-empire.wav, En-us-empire.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with empire?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as empire (/ɛmpaɪɹ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: premie.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of empire

  • empires plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does empire mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A political state, often a monarchy, that has achieved a much greater current size than its initial size by conquering surrounding territories, cities or nations.

    the Russian empire

  2. 2

    A political unit ruled by an emperor or empress.

    The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived client state of Japan governing Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.

  3. 3

    The group of states or other territories that owe allegiance to an imperial power (foreign to them), when distinguished from the native territory of that power; imperial possessions.

  4. 4

    An expansive and powerful enterprise under the control of one person or group.

    the McDonald's fast food empire

  5. 5

    control, dominion, sway.

adjective

as Empire
  1. 1

    Following or imitating a style popular during the First French Empire (1804–1814).

  2. 2

    Having the waistline just below the bust; featuring an empire waist.

  3. 3

    UKdatedProduced in a dependency of the British Empire or Commonwealth of Nations.

adjective

  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of Empire.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Empire in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchempire (political unit, having numerous or extensive…)
GermanReich, Imperium, Kaiserreich (political unit, having numerous or extensive…), Kaisertum (political unit ruled by an emperor), Weltreich (group of states)
Portugueseimpério (political unit, having numerous or extensive…)
Spanishimperio (political unit, having numerous or extensive…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does empire come from?

From Middle English empire, from Old French empire, empere, from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) + parare (“to make ready, order”). Doublet of empery and imperium.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after empire