Definition of "empire" []

• A political unit having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or nations and ruled by a single supreme authority. (noun)
• The territory included in such a unit. (noun)
• An extensive enterprise under a unified authority: a publishing empire. (noun)
• Imperial or imperialistic sovereignty, domination, or control: "There is a growing sense that the course of empire is shifting toward the . . . Asians” ( James Traub). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thus, Tertullian, in his notable Apology, chapter 32, says: "Christians are under a particular necessity of praying for the emperors, and for the continued state of the empire; because we know that dreadful power which hangs over the world, and _the conclusion of the age, which threatens the most horrible evils, is restrained by the continuance of the time appointed for the Roman empire_."
• "The term empire building really resonates with those analyzing the latest public sector salary disclosure report, which indicates that 14 employees ..."
• "The European Union's leaders don't often use the word "empire" in connection with their vast project, at least not in public."