empress

/ˈɛmprəs/

/ˈɛmprɛs/

Other forms: empresses

An empress is either a female emporer or the wife of an emporer. Either way, it's a powerful woman.

There are a lot of words that have gender built into them, like fireman and waitress. Another is empress, which is a female emperor. An emperor is like a king: a person with absolute power over a country. An empress is therefore like a queen. Also, just as a queen is the wife of a king, an empress might be the wife of an emperor, meaning she's not the ruler of the country but just married to the ruler.

Definitions of empress

1. noun

   a woman emperor or the wife of an emperor
   examples:

   Catherine I

   empress of Russia who succeeded her husband Peter the Great (1684-1727)

   Catherine the Great

   empress of Russia who greatly increased the territory of the empire (1729-1796)

   Queen Victoria

   queen of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India from 1837 to 1901; the last Hanoverian ruler of England (1819-1901)

   type of:

   emperor

   the male ruler of an empire