Crossword Genius

English make an impression with beheading sovereign (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

empress

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sovereign' is the definition.
(empress is a kind of sovereign)

'english make an impression with beheading' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'english' could be 'e' (abbreviation) and 'e' is located in the answer.
'make' could be 'press' (pressing is a kind of making) and 'press' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'm' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for empress that I've seen before include "She rules over many territories" , "Female sovereign" , "She rules over vast territories" , "Queen Victoria was one" , "Female ruler" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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