Obs. Also impire, em-, impyre. [f. prec. sb.] intr. To rule absolutely as an emperor. Const. above, of, on.
1556. Calvin’s Com. Prayer Bk., in Phenix (1708), II. 217. Strangers again empire above us.
1594. Carew, Tasso (1881), 75. At pleasure now on starres empyreth he.
a. 1605. Montgomerie, Sonn., xxxi. Thy sprit so spurris thee to aspyre; To wit, aboue the planetis to impyre.
1599. James I., Βασιλικον Δωρον (1682), 71. Your wrath empyring over your owne passion.
1637. Heywood, Dial., xiii. Wks. 1874, VI. 225. I empir’d o’re All Caria.
