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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
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
Become a Subscriber MacCulloch, a professor (now emeritus) at the University of Oxford since 1995, is a preeminent historian of Christianity.
—Grace Byron, The Atlantic, 29 Apr. 2025
Wolfgang Merkel, an emeritus political scientist at Humboldt University, told the Berliner Zeitung daily newspaper.
—Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 12 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 8 Jul. 2025.
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