empire

Empire

I

Empire, the¹
the British Empire

II

Empire² adjective
relating to the British Empire:
    He thinks he's still living in the Empire days.

III

Empire³ adjective
in a style that is typical of the period in France when Napoleon was the emperor, at the beginning of the 19th century. The word Empire can describe furniture, buildings, or clothes, especially women's dresses with high waists.

empire
em‧pire W3 /ˈempaɪə $ -paɪr/ noun [countable]1. a group of countries that are all controlled by one ruler or government:
    the Roman empire
2. a group of organizations controlled by one person:
    a business empire
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 1)

■ adjectives
   ▪ a large/vast/huge empire The emperor Claudius ruled a vast empire stretching from Persia to Britain.
   ▪ a great empire (=large and powerful) The city was the centre of a great empire.
   ▪ the Roman/British/Soviet etc empire The Barbarians finally overthrew the Roman empire.
   ▪ a colonial empire (=a group of countries ruled by another country that is far away) France had a huge colonial empire.
■ verbs
   ▪ found an empire (=start an empire) The Persian empire was founded by Cyrus the Great.
   ▪ an empire grows As the empire grew, its new territories needed to be protected.
   ▪ an empire falls/collapses (=loses power suddenly) In A.D.476, the western part of the Empire collapsed.
   ▪ an empire crumbles (=loses power gradually) The vast empire was beginning to crumble.
■ phrases
   ▪ the decline of an empire (=the gradual decrease in an empire's power) The next two hundred years saw the gradual decline of the Roman empire.
   ▪ the fall/collapse of an empire (=the sudden end of an empire) After the battle of Waterloo, the collapse of Napoleon's empire was inevitable.
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 2)

■ adjectives
   ▪ a business/financial/media etc empire His business empire is now worth over $20 billion.
   ▪ a large/vast/huge empire He created a vast financial empire worth billions of dollars.
■ verbs
   ▪ build (up) an empire She built her clothing empire from one small shop to an international chain.
   ▪ run an empire (=be in charge of it) She now runs a whole media empire.
   ▪ an empire collapses (=fails and ends suddenly) When the business empire collapsed, thousands of employees lost their jobs.
■ phrases
   ▪ the collapse of an empire He left the country after the collapse of his construction empire.

🔑 em·pireBrE /ˈempaɪə(r)/ 🔊NAmE /ˈempaɪər/ 🔊 noun🔑 a group of countries or states that are controlled by one ruler or government 帝国◆the Roman empire罗马帝国🔑 a group of commercial organizations controlled by one person or company 大企业；企业集团◆a business empire大型企业集团