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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
Helen I. Bennett,
Hartford Courant,
19 June 2026
The framework comes from a 2022 study of 2,000 adults commissioned by Fisherman’s Friend and analyzed by Robin Dunbar, emeritus professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford.
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Hanna Wickes,
Sacbee.com,
16 June 2026
Laqueur, an emeritus history professor at the University of California at Berkley, is an ideal explorer, having the knowledge and experience to range through history and society looking for examples.
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John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
13 June 2026
These differences are so notable that Thomas Boyce, MD, an emeritus professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, developed a framework to describe them.
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Parents,
7 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for emeritus
Cite this Entry
“Emeritus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emeritus. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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