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

Contemporary art work, frescoes and artifacts discovered during the property’s restoration, including a marble head of the Roman empress Livia Drusilla, are also on display. —Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 8 Apr. 2026

The fantasy story is set in a world of emperors and empresses, replete with castles and lavish costumes. —Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 24 Mar. 2026

She is especially recognized for her starring role as the Russian empress Catherine II in the Hulu show The Great (2020–23), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actress in a comedy series. —Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026

The group of four robbers was able to bypass security systems and used power tools to break into the Louvre to steal invaluable jewels once worn by France’s queens and empresses, officials told NBC News after the robbery. —Babak Dehghanpisheh, NBC news, 24 Feb. 2026

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