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In Latin, emeritus was used to describe soldiers who had completed their duty. It is the past participle of the verb emereri, meaning "to serve out one's term," from the prefix e-, meaning "out," and merēre, "to earn, deserve, or serve." (Merēre is also the source of our word merit.) English speakers claimed emeritus as their own in the late 17th century, applying it as both a noun and an adjective referring or relating not to soldiers but to someone who is retired from professional life but permitted to keep as an honorary title the rank of the last office they held. The adjective is frequently used postpositively—that is, after the noun it modifies rather than before it—and it is most commonly used to describe specifically those retired from a professorship.
Examples of emeritus in a Sentence
Rob Means, Mercury News, 5 July 2025
Formerly the department chair of psychiatry at Ohio State University, Nasrallah is now an emeritus professor at the University of Cincinnati.
—Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Dennis Howard is an emeritus professor of sports business and the former Warsaw Sports Business Center Program Academic Director at the University of Oregon .
—Dennis Howard, Sportico.com, 19 June 2025
Michigan’s program rocketed spending on diversity to more than $18 million in 2024, according to emeritus economics professor Mark Perry.
—Ian Hodgson, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for emeritus
Cite this Entry
“Emeritus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emeritus. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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