(transitive) to regard something abstract as if it were a concrete material thing.

The exercise of sovereign power. / The period during which a monarch rules. / The territory or sphere over which a kingdom; empire; realm; dominion, etc. is ruled.

(intransitive) To exercise sovereign power, to rule as a monarch. / (transitive, rare, nonstandard) To reign over (a country) / To be the winner of the most recent iteration of a competition.

(psychology) A consequence, such as food or water, that fulfills a primary, unlearned drive, such as hunger or thirst, and thereby reinforces a behavior without dependence on prior learning.

(transitive) To strengthen, especially by addition or augmentation. / (transitive) To emphasize or review. / (transitive) To encourage (a behavior or idea) through repeated stimulus.

The German Empire from its consolidation in 1871 until the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918.

The Holy Roman Empire.

(historical) Germany under the Nazi regime, beginning in January 1933 and ending in May 1945.

(uncountable) The act, process, or state of reinforcing or being reinforced. / (countable) A thing that reinforces. / (in the plural) Additional troops or materiel sent to support a military action.

A surname from German.