Im*pe"ri*al , n. A game at cards
differing from piquet in some minor
details, and in having a trump; also, any one of several combinations of cards which score in this game.
Im*pe"ri*al , n. [F. impériale: cf. Sp.
imperial.]
1.
The tuft of hair on a man's lower lip and
chin; -- so called from the style of beard of Napoleon III.
2.
An outside seat on a diligence. T.
Hughes.
3. A luggage case on the top of a coach. Simmonds.
4.
Anything of unusual size or excellence, as a large decanter, a kind of large
photograph, a large sheet of drawing, printing, or writing paper, etc.
5. A gold
coin of Russia worth ten rubles, or about eight dollars.
McElrath.
6. A kind of fine
cloth brought into England from Greece. or other Eastern countries, in the Middle Ages.
Im*pe"ri*al (?), a. [OE.
emperial, OF. emperial, F. impérial, fr. L. imperialis,
fr. imperium command, sovereignty, empire. See Empire.]
1. Of or pertaining to an empire,
or to an emperor; as, an imperial government; imperial authority or edict.
The last
That wore the
imperial diadem of Rome.
Shak.
2. Belonging to, or suitable to, supreme authority, or one who
wields it; royal; sovereign; supreme.
"The imperial democracy of Athens."
Mitford.
Who, as Ulysses says, opinion
crowns
With an imperial voice.
Shak. To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free,
These are imperial arts, and worthy thee.
Dryden. He sounds his imperial clarion along the whole line of
battle.
E.
Everett. 3. Of superior or unusual size or excellence; as, imperial paper; imperial tea, etc.
Imperial bushel, gallon, etc. See Bushel, Gallon,
etc. -- Imperial chamber, the, the sovereign court of the
old German empire. -- Imperial
city, under the first German empire, a city having
no head but
the emperor. -- Imperial diet, an assembly of all the
states of the German empire. -- Imperial drill.
(Manuf.) See under
8th Drill. -- Imperial eagle.
(Zoöl.) See Eagle. -- Imperial green. See Paris green, under Green. -- Imperial guard, the royal guard instituted by Napoleon I. - - Imperial weights and
measures, the standards legalized by the British Parliament.
Hear it pronounced