Russian Empire
now historical
noun
The empire consisting of Tsarist Russia and the territories it governed; (occasionally also) the Soviet Union viewed as resembling an imperial power.
- The Russian Empire originated in the expansion of the principality of Muscovy in the 15th–17th centuries, Ivan IV (‘the Terrible’) being crowned as the first Tsar in 1547. Peter the Great was the first Russian ruler to style himself imperator, ‘emperor’, in 1721. The Empire ended in the Russian Revolution of 1917, shortly after which the Soviet Union was formed..
Origin
Early 17th century; earliest use found in Samuel Purchas.