Home › Glossary › Letter E

empery

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Sovereign power or dominion; an empire—often used in grand or mythological contexts to denote supreme authority.

Detailed Definition
“Empire” in archaic spelling, “empery” emphasizes rule and scope. In epic poetry, it denotes cosmic or political control—“empery of heaven.” The term’s Latinate grandeur suits imperial or divine contexts. Poets use it to explore power’s reach and limits, especially in works questioning conquest, faith, or human ambition against eternal order.
Example
Example in poetry:
"His empery stretched from sea to sea," in an imperial ode; In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: "The empire of the world"; "Empery of thought surpasses lands," a metaphysical conceit; Milton uses "empery" for dominion in Paradise Lost; "Love’s empery knows no border"; The tyrant’s empery crumbled to dust.
Additional Notes
“Empery” emphasizes sovereign rule more than territory; in imperial or cosmic poetry, it describes divine or absolute dominion (e.g., “empery of heaven”), often invoked in invocations or declarations of power.
Also Known As
empire dominion sovereignty
Skip to main content