How to Say "Empire" in Japanese

帝国

teikoku[te̞ːko̞kɯ̟]

The English word 'empire' is translated into Japanese as 帝国 (teikoku).

帝国 is used to denote a political unit ruled by an emperor.

Meaning: political unit ruled by an emperor (noun)

What does it mean word for word?

The word is composed of the characters 帝, meaning emperor and 国, meaning country or state.

teikoku

Unlike the English 'Empire' which can sometimes be used metaphorically for a business, in Japanese, using 帝国 for a company would sound extremely dramatic or almost villainous in a story.
The character 帝 can also refer to 'the heavens' or a supreme deity in ancient contexts, linking the idea of an 'empire' to divine rule.
The term 帝国 can be found in the names of various Japanese corporations and brands, using the weight of the word to imply a sense of massive, unshakeable scale.

合衆国はかつて大英帝国の一部だった。
The United States was once part of the British Empire.
This sentence is useful for discussing the historical relationship between the United States and the British Empire using 帝国.
Tatoeba #173144 by bunbuku, translation #241327 by CM
神聖ローマ帝国は１８０６年に終わりを告げた。
The Holy Roman Empire came to an end in the year 1806.
This sentence is useful for noting the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 using 帝国.
Tatoeba #144870 by mookeee, translation #269694 by CM
日本は太平洋戦争前に大日本帝国として知られていました。
Japan was known as the Empire of Japan before the Pacific War.
イギリスはかつて大英帝国として知られ、その後はイギリス連邦となりました。
Britain was once known as the British Empire, and later became the Commonwealth of Nations.
このゲームでは、君が自分の夢の帝国を築くことができます。
In this game, you can build your own dream empire.
彼は自分の寿司店を大帝国だと自慢していました。
He boasted about his sushi restaurant as a great empire.
その古の帝国は非常に広大だった。
Sono inishie no teikoku wa hijō ni kōdai datta.
That ancient empire was extremely vast.

Yui and Kenta are talking about a movie they watched.

結衣 Yui

この映画の帝国はとても強力ですね。
Kono eiga no teikoku wa totemo kyōryoku desu ne.
The empire in this movie is very powerful, isn't it?
健太 Kenta

そうですね。支配地域がとても広いです。
Sō desu ne. Shihai chiiki ga totemo hiroi desu.
It is. Their controlled territory is very vast.
結衣 Yui

帝国が崩壊するシーンが一番好きです。
Teikoku ga hōkai suru shīn ga ichiban suki desu.
I like the scene where the empire collapses the most.
健太 Kenta

結衣さんはドラマチックな展開が好きなんだね。
Yui-san wa doramatikku na tenkai ga suki nan da ne.
Yui, you really like dramatic developments.

Sources

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