Search the Dictionary

A colony of the British Empire not having an elective magistracy or a parliament, but governed by a chief magistrate (called Governor) appointed by the Crown, with executive councilors nominated by him and not elected by the people.

ne; deterioration; as, the decay of the body; the decay of virtue; the decay of the Roman empire; a castle in decay. Perhaps my God, though he be far before, May turn, and take me by the hand, and more -May strengthen my decays. Herbert. His [Johnson's] failure was not to be ascribed to intellectual decay. Macaulay. Wh…

lessen; as, the day declines; virtue declines; religion declines; business declines. That empire must decline Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. Waller. And presume to know . . . Who thrives, and who declines. Shak.

spread; to overpower; to submerge; to destroy; as, the northern nations deluged the Roman empire with their armies; the land is deluged with woe. At length corruption, like a general fldeluge all. Pope.

ate; unconnected, or imperfectly connected; as, detached parcels. "Extensive and detached empire." Burke. Detached escapement. See Escapement.

Regal power; sovereignty; empire; -- considered as symbolized by the crown.

thren. Prov. vi. 19. Peace to arise out of universal discord fomented in all parts of the empire. Burke.

ladstone. By whose hands the blow should be struck which would dismember that once mighty empire. Buckle.

gement; power or right of control. [Obs.] But such is the dispose of the sole Disposer of empires. Speed.

Dominion; empire; authority.

with a dramatic unity and interest. "The drama of war." Thackeray. Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. Berkeley. The drama and contrivances of God's providence. Sharp.

thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Gen. iii. 19. Stop! -- for thy tread is on an empire's dust. Byron.

the Christian church which prevails in the countries once comprised in the Eastern Roman Empire and the countries converted to Christianity by missionaries from them. Its full official title is The Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church. It became estranged from the Western, or Roman, Church over the question of p…

In the old German empire, one of the princes entitled to choose the emperor.

The territory, jurisdiction, or dignity of an elector, as in the old German empire.

The wife or widow of an elector in the old German empire. Burke.

The sovereign or supreme monarch of an empire; -- a title of dignity superior to that of king; as, the emperor of Germany or of Austria; the emperor or Czar of Russia. Emperor goose (Zoöl.), a large and handsome goose (Philacte canagica), found in Alaska. -- Emperor moth (Zoöl.), one of several large and beautiful bom…

Empire; sovereignty; dominion. [Archaic] Shak. Struggling for my woman's empery. Mrs. Browning.

The language of ancient Ethiopia; the language of the ancient Abyssinian empire (in Ethiopia), now used only in the Abyssinian church. It is of Semitic origin, and is also called Geez.

Formerly, one of the administrative divisions or provinces of the Ottoman Empire; -- now called a vilayet.