Standard Lemma guide

imperialism

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australian, Received-Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpɪə.ɹi.ə.lɪ.z(ə)m/
  • General-American: /ɪmˈpɪ.ɹi.əˌlɪ.zəm/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 M P IH1 R IY0 AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The policy of forcefully extending a nation's authority by territorial gain or by the establishment of economic and political dominance over other nations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any undue extension of political, intellectual, or other forms of authority, particularly in regards to systems that benefit the Western world at the cost of the Global South.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, derogatory, figuratively, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

any instance of aggressive extension of authority

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: control

4

noun

Meaning 4

a political orientation that advocates imperial interests

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: political orientation, ideology, political theory

5

noun

Meaning 5

a policy of extending your rule over foreign countries

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: foreign policy

Narrower terms: manifest destiny

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English imperial Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English imperialism From imperial + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

86 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: imperialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Albanian: imperializëm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Arabic: إِمْبِرْيَالِيَّة (ʔimbiryāliyya) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Arabic: اِسْتِعْمَارِيَّة (istiʕmāriyya) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Armenian: իմպերիալիզմ (imperializm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Armenian: կայսերապաշտություն (kayserapaštutʻyun) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Asturian: imperialismu — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Azerbaijani: imperializm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Azerbaijani: империализм — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Belarusian: імперыялі́зм (impjeryjalízm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Belarusian: імпэрыялі́зм (imperyjalízm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Bengali: সাম্রাজ্যবাদ (śamrajjobad) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Bulgarian: империали́зъм (imperialízǎm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Burmese: နယ်ချဲ့ဝါဒ (naihkyai.wada.) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Catalan: imperialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Chinese Cantonese: 帝國主義 /帝国主义 (dai3 gwok3 zyu2 ji6) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Chinese: 帝國主義 /帝国主义 (tè-kok-chú-gī) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Chinese Mandarin: 帝國主義 /帝国主义 (dìguózhǔyì) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Czech: imperialismus — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Danish: imperialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Dutch: imperialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Estonian: imperialism — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Finnish: imperialismi — the policy of extending power, by force
  • French: impérialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Galician: imperialismo — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Georgian: იმპერიალიზმი (imṗerializmi) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • German: Imperialismus — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Greek: ιμπεριαλισμός (imperialismós) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Hebrew: אִימְפֶּרְיָאלִיזְם (imperyalízem) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Hindi: साम्राज्यवाद (sāmrājyavād) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Hungarian: imperializmus — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Icelandic: heimsvaldastefna — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Icelandic: imperíalismi — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Indonesian: imperialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Irish: impiriúlachas — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Italian: imperialismo — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Japanese: 帝国主義 (teikokushugi) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Kazakh: империализм (imperializm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Khmer: លទ្ធិចក្រពត្តិនិយម (latthiʼ cakkraʼpŏət niyum) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Khmer: ចក្រពត្តិនិយម (cakkraʼpŏət niyum) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Korean: 제국주의 (jegukjuui) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Northern Kurdish: emperyalîzm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Kyrgyz: империализм (imperializm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Lao: ລັດທິຈັກກະພັດນິຍົມ (lat thi chak ka phat ni nyom) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Lao: ຈັກກະພັດນິຍົມ (chak ka phat ni nyom) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Latin: imperialismus — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Latvian: imperiālisms — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Lithuanian: imperializmas — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Macedonian: империјали́зам (imperijalízam) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Maltese: imperjaliżmu — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Mongolian: империализм (imperializm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Mongolian: эзэрхэг түрэмгий (ezerxeg türemgii) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Mongolian: ᠢᠮᠫᠧᠷᠢᠶᠠᠯᠢᠰᠮ (impēriyalism) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Mongolian: ᠡᠵᠡᠷᠬᠡᠭ᠌ ᠲᠦᠷᠢᠮᠡᠭᠡᠶ (eǰerkeg türimegey) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Norwegian Bokmål: imperialisme — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Pashto: سامراج (sāmrãj) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Pashto: امپرياليزم (imparyalízǝm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Iranian Persian: اَمْپِرْیالیسْم (amperyâlism) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Polish: imperializm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Portuguese: imperialismo — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Punjabi: ਸਾਮਰਾਜਵਾਦ (sāmrājavād) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Romanian: imperialism — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Russian: империали́зм (imperialízm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Serbo-Croatian: империјалѝзам — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Serbo-Croatian: imperijalìzam — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Slovak: imperializmus — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Slovene: imperializem — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Spanish: imperialismo — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Swahili: ubeberu — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Swedish: imperialism — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Tagalog: imperyalismo — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Tajik: империализм (imperializm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Tatar: империализм (imperiyalizm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Thai: ลัทธิจักรวรรดินิยม (lát-tí-jàk-grà-wàt-ní-yom) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Thai: จักรวรรดินิยม (jàk-grà-wàt-ní-yom) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Turkish: emperyalizm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Turkmen: imperializm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Ukrainian: імперіалі́зм (imperialízm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Urdu: سامْراجِیَت (sāmrājiyat) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Uyghur: ئىمپېرىيالىزم (impëriyalizm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Uyghur: جاھانئگىرلىك (jahan'girlik) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Uzbek: imperializm — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Uzbek: империализм (imperializm) — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa đế quốc — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Welsh: imperialaeth — the policy of extending power, by force
  • Yiddish: אימפּעריאַליזם (imperyalizm) — the policy of extending power, by force
Real reading context

imperialism in complete knowledge articles