| 释义 |
‖ imperator|ɪmpəˈreɪtə(r)|
Also 6 emp-.
[L., agent-n. from imperā-re to command.]
a. In Roman History, a word originally meaning ‘commander’, under the Republic, conferred by salutation of the soldiers on a victorious general; afterwards, under the Empire, confined to the head of the state, in whose name all victories were won, and thus the equivalent of its English representative, emperor, q.v.
From the ancient Roman Emperors, it was continued as the Latin title of the Emperors of the East and West, and so of all monarchs who claimed ‘imperial’ rank or position. In this sense it was commonly assumed (in Latin documents) by the Old English kings from æthelstan onward (see Freeman Norm. Conq. I. iii, and App. C); the OE. equivalent was cásere (cf. Cæsar, kaser, Kaiser), the OF. repr. was empereor, whence emperor.
1579–80North Plutarch (1595) 679 Pompeyes souldiers saluted him by the name of Imperator. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vii. xvi. 374 Julius Augustus and Tiberius with great humility or popularity refused the name of Imperator. 1853W. Smith's Smaller Dict. Gr. & Rom. Antiq. (1868) 211/1 After a victory it was usual for the soldiers to salute their commander as imperator, but this salutation neither gave nor confirmed the title, since the title as a matter of course was given with the imperium. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. iii. 145 From the days of æthelstan onwards, our kings..appear in their public acts as Basileus, Cæsar, Imperator, Imperator Augustus.
b. gen. Absolute ruler, emperor; commander, ruler. (Cf. emperor 3 b.)
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 187 [Cupid] King of Codpeeces, Sole Emperator and great generall Of trotting Parrators. 1596Edw. III, ii. ii. 26 She is as imperator over me; And I to her Am as a kneeling vassal. 1613Haga at Constant. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 223 Supreme lord of the noble house of the Ottomans, and the imperator of all other rulers and lords in the world.
Hence impeˈratorship, the office of imperator.
1848Fraser's Mag. XXXVIII. 242 This new theoretical Imperatorship consolidates itself. 1882–3Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. I. 407 His [Vespasian's] elevation to the imperatorship. |