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The words emperor, caesar, czar, and Kaiser all go back to one source: the title of the first Roman emperor, Imperator Caesar Augustus. Augustus was the adopted son of the Roman general and ruler Julius Caesar and he took the name Caesar as part of his official name. Later Roman emperors did the same, and thus caesar came to mean “an emperor of Rome.” The word caesar was borrowed into German and other Germanic languages as Kaiser, which is how we get the word kaiser for “a ruler in Germany.” Through the Russian word tsar, which also came from kaiser, we got our word czar, meaning “a ruler in Russia.” The word emperor can be traced through French to Latin imperator. Imperator was a title given to great Roman generals and meant “commander,” from the verb imperare “to command.”
Examples of emperor in a Sentence
Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
The party dates back to Augustan times, more than 2,000 years ago, when the namesake emperor decreed this a rest period.
—Mark Ellwood, AFAR Media, 26 May 2025
At a time when the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb was persecuting Hindus, the community rallied by Shivaji, who was crowned as Chhatrapati (monarch).
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 May 2025
For middle-grade listeners, Grace Lin’s CHINESE MENU, read by Lisa Ling, shares tales of iconic dishes and dragons, monks, emperors, and other heroes.
—Behind The Mic
may 9, Literary Hub, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for emperor
Cite this Entry
“Emperor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emperor. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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emperor
noun
Middle English emperour "emperor," from early French emperur (same meaning), from Latin imperator "commander" (title assumed by Caesar Augustus), from imperare "to command"
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