Definition of "imperial" []

• Of, relating to, or suggestive of an empire or a sovereign, especially an emperor or empress: imperial rule; the imperial palace. (adjective)
• Ruling over extensive territories or over colonies or dependencies: imperial nations. (adjective)
• Having supreme authority; sovereign. (adjective)
• Regal; majestic. (adjective)
• Outstanding in size or quality. (adjective)

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.

• ""_Item_ -- They shall tell him about a meeting between the imperial and ducal ambassadors, at which meeting there was some talk of making a kingdom out of certain lands of Monseigneur and joining these to an _imperial_ vicariate of all the lands and principalities lying along the Rhine.""
• "The relation of England to her free colonies is not in the proper sense of the term imperial, while her relation to such dependencies as Gibraltar and Malta is military alone."
• "Vietnam has fought off five of what it calls imperial intrusions over the centuries — the Mongols, Han Chinese, French, Americans and modern Chinese — thanks to its incredible discipline and self-sacrifice."