empress

noun

em·​press ˈem-prəs 

1

: the wife or widow of an emperor

2

: a woman who is the sovereign or supreme monarch of an empire

Examples of empress in a Sentence

the Emperor and Empress of Japan

Catherine the Great was Empress of Russia.

Recent Examples on the Web

Also stolen was a diamond bow brooch, another of the empress's signature pieces, which had been acquired by the Louvre for $10.7 million. —Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Oct. 2025

The fashion journalist and critic Alexander Fury credits Eugénie not only with introducing the color empress blue to the world but also with helping to popularize Louis Vuitton trunks. —Emma Specter, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2025

Several more of the empress's brooches were also on display in the gallery, including some known as reliquary brooches, which are constructed to hold a sacred relic, a symbol of Eugénie’s Catholic faith. —Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2025

Another crown of the empress’s was nabbed, too, covered in some 1,356 diamonds and 56 emeralds, but it was dropped when the robbers fled, according to a report from Le Monde. —Sophie Friedman, AFAR Media, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English emperice, emperes (with assimilation of the suffix to -esse -ess), borrowed from Anglo-French emperice, empereis, going back to Late Latin imperātrīc-, imperātrīx (Latin, "female general [used ironically]"), from Latin imperāre "to give orders, exercise authority, hold political power" + -trīc-, -trīx, feminine agent suffix — more at emperor

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

empress

noun

em·​press ˈem-prəs 

1

: the wife or widow of an emperor

2

: a woman who is the ruler of an empire