Imperialism

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The policy, practice, or advocacy of seeking, or acquiescing in, the extension of the control, dominion, or empire of a nation, as by the acquirement of new, esp. distant, territory or dependencies, or by the closer union of parts more or less independent of each other for operations of war, copyright, internal commerce, etc.

(2): ( n.) The power or character of an emperor; imperial authority; the spirit of empire.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

The name given by English politicians to the policy which aims at the consolidation into one empire of all the colonies and dependencies along with the mother-country.