emperor

the word 'emperor' entered english in the early middle ages via old french 'empereor', which itself descended from the latin 'imperator'. in ancient rome, 'imperator' was a title for a military commander, derived from the verb 'imperare', meaning 'to command' or 'to order'. over time, this title was adopted by augustus and his successors, evolving from a military honorific into the supreme political title for the ruler of the roman empire. the core semantic link from the latin root 'imper-' (to command) to the modern english meaning of a sovereign ruler of an empire has remained remarkably consistent.

Structure: emper (command) + or (agent noun suffix) emper is from latin 'imperare' (to command). or is a latin agent noun suffix denoting a person who performs an action.