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Entry 10 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Imperial

/ĭmˌ-pĭr'-ē-əl/ · Im·pe·ri·al · IPA /ɪmˈpɪə.ɹi.əl/
01 a. Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor; as, an imperial government; imperial authority or edict.
  1. 1.
    Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor; as, an imperial government; imperial authority or edict.
    “The last That wore the imperial diadem of Rome.” — Shak.
  2. 2.
    Belonging to, or suitable to, supreme authority, or one who wields it; royal; sovereign; supreme.
    “Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns With an imperial voice.” — Shak.
    “To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free, These are imperial arts, and worthy thee.” — Dryden.
    “He sounds his imperial clarion along the whole line of battle.” — E. Everett.
  3. 3.
    Of superior or unusual size or excellence; as, imperial paper; imperial tea, etc.
Phrases & compounds
Imperial bushel, gallon, — See Bushel, Gallon, etc.
Imperial chamber — the, the sovereign court of the old German empire.
Imperial city — under the first German empire, a city having no head but the emperor.
Imperial diet — an assembly of all the states of the German empire.
Imperial drill — See under 8th Drill.
Imperial eagle — See Eagle.
Imperial green — See Paris green, under Green.
Imperial guard — the royal guard instituted by Napoleon I.
Imperial weights and measures — the standards legalized by the British Parliament.
02 n. The tuft of hair on a man's lower lip and chin; -- so called from the style of beard of Napoleon III.
  1. 1.
    The tuft of hair on a man's lower lip and chin; -- so called from the style of beard of Napoleon III.
  2. 2.
    An outside seat on a diligence.
  3. 3.
    A luggage case on the top of a coach.
  4. 4.
    Anything of unusual size or excellence, as a large decanter, a kind of large photograph, a large sheet of drawing, printing, or writing paper, etc.
  5. 5.
    A gold coin of Russia worth ten rubles, or about eight dollars.
  6. 6.
    A kind of fine cloth brought into England from Greece. or other Eastern countries, in the Middle Ages.
  7. 7.
    A game at cards differing from piquet in some minor details, and in having a trump; also, any one of several combinations of cards which score in this game.