Roman Empire

English

Etymology

The sense "something that one frequently thinks about" is a reference to the "How Often Do You Think About the Roman Empire?" meme, popularized on Instagram and TikTok around September 2023.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹəʊmən ˈɛmpaɪə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹoʊmən ˈɛmpaɪɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proper noun

the Roman Empire

1. (historical) The empire which succeeded the Roman Republic and existed between 27 B.C.E. and 476 C.E. in the west (and until 1453 C.E. in the east; see Byzantine Empire), encompassing territories stretching from Britain and Germany to Spain, North Africa and the Persian Gulf. [from 15th c.]

   Synonym: Rome (metonymically)

   Coordinate terms: Roman Kingdom; Roman Republic; Western Roman Empire; Byzantine Empire (Byzantium, Eastern Roman Empire)

2. (historical, now rare) The Holy Roman Empire. [from 16th c.]

Derived terms

• Revived Roman Empire

 

Translations

ancient Latin empire

• Afrikaans: Romeinse Ryk, Romeinse Keiserryk
• Albanian: Perandoria Romake
• Arabic: اَلْإِمْبِرَاطُورِيَّة الرُّومَانِيَّة f (al-ʔimbirāṭūriyya(t) ar-rūmāniyya)
• Armenian: Հռոմեական Կայսրություն (Hṙomeakan Kaysrutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: Roma İmperiyası
• Belarusian: Ры́мская імпе́рыя f (Rýmskaja impjéryja)
• Bengali: রোমান সাম্রাজ্য (rōman śamrajjo)
• Bulgarian: Ри́мска импе́рия f (Rímska impérija)
• Catalan: Imperi romà
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羅馬帝國／罗马帝国 (zh) (Luómǎ dìguó)

• Czech: římská říše f
• Danish: Romerriget n (definite form)
• Dutch: Romeinse Rijk (nl) n
• Esperanto: Romia Imperio
• Estonian: Rooma riik, Rooma impeerium
• Faroese: Rómverjaríkið n
• Finnish: Rooman valtakunta (fi), Rooman imperiumi
• French: Empire romain (fr) m
• Galician: Imperio Romano m
• Georgian: რომის იმპერია (romis imṗeria)
• German: Römisches Reich (de) n, Römerreich n
• Greek: Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων f (Vasileía Romaíon), Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία (el) f (Romaïkí Aftokratoría)

  Ancient: Ῥωμανία f (Rhōmanía)

• Hebrew: האימפריה הרומית (ha'impérya harómit)
• Hindi: रोमन साम्राज्य (roman sāmrājya)
• Hungarian: Római Birodalom (hu), Római Császárság
• Icelandic: Rómaveldi n, Rómverska heimsveldið n (definite form)
• Indonesian: Kekaisaran Romawi
• Irish: Impireacht na Róimhe f
• Italian: Impero romano m
• Japanese: ローマ帝国 (ja) (Rōma teikoku)
• Kazakh: Рим империясы (Rim imperiäsy)
• Korean: 로마 제국 (Roma jeguk)
• Lao: ຈັກກະພົບໂຣມັນ (chak ka phop rō man)
• Latin: Imperium Rōmānum n
• Latvian: Romas impērija f
• Lithuanian: Romos imperija f
• Low German:

  German Low German: Röömsch Riek n

• Luxembourgish: Réimescht Räich n
• Macedonian: Римско царство n (Rimsko carstvo), Римска империја f (Rimska imperija)
• Malay: Empayar Rom
• Marathi: रोमन साम्राज्य n (roman sāmrājya)
• Mongolian: Ромын эзэнт гүрэн (Romyn ezent güren)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Romerriket n (definite form)

  Nynorsk: Romarriket n (definite form)

• Old English: Rōmāna rīċe n
• Persian: امپراتوری روم (fa) (emperâturi-ye rum)
• Polish: Cesarstwo Rzymskie (pl) n, Imperium Rzymskie (pl) n
• Portuguese: Império Romano (pt) m
• Romanian: Imperiul Roman (ro) n
• Russian: Ри́мская импе́рия f (Rímskaja impérija)
• Sanskrit: रोमकविषय (sa) m (romakaviṣaya)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Римско царство n

  Roman: Rimsko carstvo n

• Slovak: Rímske cisárstvo n
• Slovene: Rimski imperij m
• Spanish: Imperio romano m
• Swedish: Romerska riket n (definite form)
• Tagalog: Imperyong Romano
• Thai: จักรวรรดิโรมัน (jàk-grà-wàt rohman)
• Turkish: Roma İmparatorluğu
• Turkmen: Rim imperiýasy
• Ukrainian: Ри́мська імпе́рія f (Rýmsʹka impérija)
• Vietnamese: Đế quốc La Mã
• Welsh: Yr Ymerodraeth Rufeinig
• West Frisian: Romeinske Ryk n
• Yiddish: רוימישע אימפּעריע (roymishe imperye)

Noun

Roman Empire (plural Roman Empires)

2. (Internet slang) An unexpected or apparently random topic that one frequently thinks about.
   • 2023 September 18, @fleabagreact, Twitter‎^[1], archived from the original on 22 January 2024:

     the dinner party episode from fleabag is my roman empire

   • 2023 October 4, u/Soggy_Biscuit_, “Whats your version of the Roman empire?”, in Reddit‎^[2], r/popculturechat, archived from the original on 22 January 2024:

     Yeah we had a big convo about this at work. I work in a pharmacy which is like 90% women (it's the best) and we collectively decided our "Roman empire" is either Genghis Khan or blood clots, and the teenage version was toxic shock syndrome lol

   • 2023 October 15, @lexkwondo, Twitter‎^[3], archived from the original on 22 January 2024:

     No one understands how much I crave this. I yearn for this. This is my Roman Empire. You visualize an apple in your head, I visualize this at all times

   • 2023 October 26, Neia Balao, quoting Alexandra Gulla, “‘The desire to be smaller’: These women reveal that their ‘Roman Empire’ is tied to body image, and others agree”, in Yahoo!‎^[4]:

     “My Roman Empire is the fact that I have thought about the desire to be smaller every single day for the past 20 years,” she says in a video posted on Oct. 18.

   • 2023 December 3, u/8Jennyx, “What's a fact you wish you didn't know?”, in Reddit‎^[5], r/AskReddit, archived from the original on 22 January 2024:

     Prions are my Roman Empire. I swear I think of prions absurdly more than anyone should. The fact that they exist and can do that amount of damage is haunting.

   • 2023 December 5, @GenevaWren38, Twitter‎^[6], archived from the original on 22 January 2024:

     I have a rotating set of Roman empires, currently it seems to be Foolish & Philza as a duo cause the amount of feral energy that floods me every time I see something regarding them....I adore them

   • 2023 December 8, Laura Henshaw, “Living Well with Laura Henshaw: body image used to be my Roman Empire”, in Vogue‎^[7]:

     The size of my body used to be my Roman Empire, and I know I’m not alone. […] Body image is consuming. For so many of us, it’s our Roman Empire.

   • 2023 December 17, u/HiLittleDarling, “Let's Discuss, Hollywood Siblings”, in Reddit‎^[8], r/popculturechat, archived from the original on 22 January 2024:

     Wondering why they are feuding can be an occasional Roman Empire for me.

   • 2024 October 1, Marybel Martin, “Halloween is my Roman Empire”, in Marybel Martin‎^[9]:

     So, that is why I say Halloween is my Roman Empire. It’s exciting, it’s fun, and it makes my inner child happy. I feel like almost all my art has a whisper of Halloween somehow, don’t you think?