Empress: Ruling in Her Own Right, or Married to the Throne

An empress is a woman who rules an empire, or the wife of an emperor. Historians separate the two with a single word: an empress *regnant* holds the power, an empress *consort* is married to it. Catherine the Great was the first; most empresses in history were the second.

• A woman ruling an empire. *The empress signed the decree.*
• The wife of an emperor. *The emperor and empress attended.*
• A commanding woman (figurative). *The empress of daytime television.*

Word forms

How it is used in a sentence

• The empress ruled for thirty-four years.Ruling in her own right.
• Queen Victoria was made Empress of India in 1876.A title added to an existing crown.
• The dowager empress kept her influence.Dowager means the widow of the previous ruler.

Empresses worth knowing

• Catherine the Great — ruled Russia for thirty-four years
• Wu Zetian — the only woman to rule China under her own name
• Theodora — co-ruler of the Byzantine empire with Justinian
• Maria Theresa — ruled the Habsburg lands in her own right
• Cixi — the dowager empress who held power in late Qing China

From Old French *emperesse*, the feminine of *empereor*, from Latin *imperator*. English kept the French feminine ending, which is why the word does not simply add *-ess* to *emperor*.