n.
- An army commander in the Roman Republic.
- The supreme power of the Roman emperor.
- The head of state and supreme commander in the Roman Empire, in whose name all victories were won.
[Latin imperātōr. See emperor.]
imperatorial im·per'a·to'ri·al (ĭm-pĕr'ə-tôr'ē-əl, -tōr'-) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
