Definition of "empress"

empress¹

/ˈɛmpɹəs/

noun
plural empresses
1. The female monarch (ruler) of an empire.
  Quotations
  Sit downe by her: adorned with my Crowne,As if thou wert the Empreſſe of the world.
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, Act III, scene iii
2. The wife or widow of an emperor or equated ruler.
  Quotations
  Empress, imperial regent, and even emperor herself (r. 797–802), Irene was an important and powerful figure at the Byzantine court in the late eighth and early ninth century.
  2008, Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation‎, page 211
3. (tarot) The third trump or major arcana card of most tarot decks.
4. (rare) A female chimpanzee.
5. A deciduous tree, Paulownia tomentosa

empress²

/ɪmˈpɹɛs/

verb
third-person singular simple present empresses, present participle empressing, simple past and past participle empressed
1. Rare form of impress.