(historical) The empire ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty 550–330 B.C.E.. / (historical) The empire ruled by the Sassanid dynasty 224–651 C.E..

(historical) The empire which succeeded the Roman Republic and existed between 27 B.C.E. and 476 C.E. in the west (and until 1453 C.E. in the east; see Byzantine Empire), encompassing territories stretching from Britain and Germany to Spain, North Africa and the Persian Gulf.

(historical) A large Turkish empire which began as a Turkish sultanate centered in modern Turkey; founded in the late 13th century, it lasted until the end of World War I.

(historical) The predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages with its capital city being Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium, which fell in 1453.

(chiefly historical) The United Kingdom and its overseas dependencies and colonies.

An empire of the Mongols and Turkic peoples which existed in Asia from 1206 to 1368 and became the largest contiguous land empire in human history, stretching from Central Europe east to the Sea of Japan and from Siberia south to the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

A Persianate empire centered in North India from 1526 to 1857. Succeeded by the British East India Company.

(fashion) Having an empire waist.

(historical) A Songhai state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th centuries.

plural of gunpowder empire