British Empire
20
3.8
- proper noun
- /ˈbrɪtɪʃ ˈɛmpaɪər/
:
Imperio británico
- At its height, the British Empire spanned several continents, influencing cultures worldwide.
- British Empire Exhibition
- British Empire Exhibition of 1924
- nineteenth-century British Empire
What used to be the British Empire is now broken Britain.
- What used to be the British Empire is now broken Britain.
- So these were all entities that were part of the British Empire, right?
- I spent a lot of my research studying the British Empire.
- The Queen of England presided over the dissolution of the British Empire.
- And it's for me, it's not like the problem isn't about teaching about the British Empire and colonialism.
- They went to Commonwealth countries, the part of those that were in the former British Empire.
- Still, in August, a joint declaration of the Indian Independence Parties reaffirms that India should hold Dominion status within the British Empire.
- And to preserve it to India, the road to India and all that and Middle East, Churchill fought the entire war with the concept of preserving the British Empire.
- Throughout history, Rome, British Empire, Spanish Empire, Dutch Empire, etcetera, when their currencies lost value, their empires fell.
- But the region, of course, is no stranger to invading powers with the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire, more recently the British Empire.
- The Italians on the move and throughout the British Empire a call for more and more troops.
- So so you can analogize the US to the British Empire or this the late Soviet empire.
Examples
-
Canada is part of the British Empire.
-
How is it possible that less than a century ago the British Empire ruled a quarter of the globe and now it's relying on someone like you?
-
What used to be the British Empire is now broken Britain.
-
The Church of England was, and remains, the official state religion of the British Empire.
Academic text (1996) -
Of course, any Order of the British Empire is a huge achievement.
-
The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause...
-
Our recent history mirrors that of the British Empire more and more every day.
Blog text (5) -
Later, the British Empire was dominant because it had ships.
-
The British Empire faces imminent defeat.
-
Compare the British Empire in 1900 to the British Empire in 1960; the contrast is striking.
Blog text (5)
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the empire belonging to or ruled by Britain' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'British' (relating to Great Britain) with 'empire' (a state ruling many territories). This adjective+noun composition is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the referent despite its status as a historical proper name.
Etymology
The name British Empire comes from British (from Britain) and Empire, a word for one power that 'rules' many lands. The image of Britain ruling many countries by sea helps explain why the term means Britain together with its colonies and territories.