emeritus

noun emer·i·tus \ i-ˈmer-ə-təs \

|Updated on: 7 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of emeritus

plural emeriti play \i-ˈmer-ə-ˌtī, -ˌtē\

: a person retired from professional life but permitted to retain as an honorary title the rank of the last office held

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First Known Use of emeritus

circa 1701

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Other Forms of Address Terms

appellation, beatitude, brethren, esquire, sire, sous

emeritus

adjective

Definition of emeritus

1 : holding after retirement an honorary title corresponding to that held last during active service

2 : retired from an office or position

professor emeritus

—converted to emeriti after a plural

professors emeriti

See emeritus defined for English-language learners

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Recent Examples of emeritus from the Web

However, he was not given emeritus status and will not be able to attend Dartmouth events no matter where they are held.

— deirdre fernandes, BostonGlobe.com, "Dartmouth professor in misconduct probe will retire and be barred from college events," 14 June 2018
He will be honored with the title of chairman emeritus effective June 26.

— angela helm, The Root, "Mellody Hobson Will Become Starbucks’ No. 2 When Howard Schultz Steps Down," 5 June 2018
These might include a warning letter, salary reduction, suspension, demotion, changes to emeritus status or, in extremely rare cases, dismissal.

— nanette asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, "Report finds past harassment by UC professor, but punishment lags," 22 May 2018
In the summer and fall of 2016, Halper, then an emeritus professor at Cambridge, contacted three Trump campaign advisers for brief talks and meetings that largely centered on foreign policy, The Washington Post reported last week.

— drew broach, NOLA.com, "After Texas school shooting, Steve Scalise says removing prayer 'one of the problems': report," 22 May 2018
Yet another promising program is Supporting Father Involvement by Philip Cowan, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

— joyce y. lee and shawna j. lee, Houston Chronicle, "Study: Fathers are forgotten by parenting programs," 17 June 2018
Former University of Oregon architecture professor Don Peting, emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Oreogn.

— ken goe, OregonLive.com, "Tinker Hatfield and supporters of Hayward Field's east grandstand meet," 9 June 2018
In the summer and fall of 2016, Halper, then an emeritus professor at Cambridge, contacted three Trump campaign advisers for brief talks and meetings that largely centered on foreign policy, The Washington Post reported last week.

— drew broach, NOLA.com, "After Texas school shooting, Steve Scalise says removing prayer 'one of the problems': report," 22 May 2018
In 2007, 100 years after the bridge was originally dedicated to much fanfare, David Westerling, an emeritus professor at Merrimack College, coauthored a warning, published in the Globe, about the state’s failure to maintain its assets.

— nestor ramos, BostonGlobe.com, "The Longfellow Bridge — connecting people, ideas, and identities — reopens," 31 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'emeritus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The adjective emeritus is unusual in two ways: it's frequently used postpositively (that is, after the noun it modifies), and it has a plural form—emeriti—when it modifies a plural noun in its second sense. If you've surmised from these qualities that the word is Latin in origin, you are correct. Emeritus, which is the Latin past participle of the verb emereri, meaning "to serve out one's term," was originally used to describe soldiers who had completed their duty. (Emereri is from the prefix e-, meaning "out," and merēre, meaning "to earn, deserve, or serve"—also the source of our English word merit.) By the early 18th century, English speakers were using emeritus as an adjective to refer to professors who had retired from office. The word eventually came to be applied to other professions where a retired member may continue to hold a title in an honorary capacity.