\Im*pe"ri*al\, a. [OE. emperial, OF. emperial, F.
imp['e]rial, fr. L. imperialis, fr. imperium command,
sovereignty, empire. See {Empire}.]
1. Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor; as, an
   imperial government; imperial authority or edict.
         The last That wore the imperial diadem of Rome.
                                               --Shak.
2. Belonging to, or suitable to, supreme authority, or one
   who wields it; royal; sovereign; supreme. ``The imperial
   democracy of Athens.'' --Mitford.
         Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns With an
         imperial voice.                       --Shak.
         To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free, These
         are imperial arts, and worthy thee.   --Dryden.
         He sounds his imperial clarion along the whole line
         of battle.                            --E. Everett.
3. Of superior or unusual size or excellence; as, imperial
   paper; imperial tea, etc.
{Imperial bushel}, {gallon}, etc. See {Bushel}, {Gallon},
   etc.
{Imperial chamber}, the, the sovereign court of the old
   German empire.
{Imperial city}, under the first German empire, a city having
   no head but the emperor.
{Imperial diet}, an assembly of all the states of the German
   empire.
{Imperial drill}. (Manuf.) See under 8th {Drill}.
{Imperial eagle}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Eagle}.
{Imperial green}. See {Paris green}, under {Green}.
{Imperial guard}, the royal guard instituted by Napoleon I.
{Imperial weights and measures}, the standards legalized by
   the British Parliament.

\Im*pe"ri*al\, n. [F. imp['e]riale: cf. Sp. imperial.]
1. The tuft of hair on a man's lower lip and chin; -- so
   called from the style of beard of Napoleon III.
2. An outside seat on a diligence. --T. Hughes.
3. A luggage case on the top of a coach. --Simmonds.
4. Anything of unusual size or excellence, as a large
   decanter, a kind of large photograph, a large sheet of
   drowing, printing, or writing paper, etc.
5. A gold coin of Russia worth ten rubles, or about eight
   dollars. --McElrath.
6. A kind of fine cloth brought into England from Greece. or
   other Eastern countries, in the Middle Ages.

\Im*pe"ri*al\, n.
A game at cards differing from piquet in some minor details,
and in having a trump; also, any one of several combinations
of cards which score in this game.