emeritus

1 of 2

noun

emer·i·tus i-ˈmer-ə-təs

plural emeriti 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

emeritus

2 of 2

adjective

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

: retired from an office or position

professor emeritus

—converted to emeriti after a plural

professors emeriti

Did you know?

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.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

In 1920, the U.S. had 15,000 gas stations, according to John Lienhard, emeritus professor of mechanical engineering and history at the University of Houston.

Jennifer Hiller, WSJ, 29 Nov. 2022 But then Jim Cash, an emeritus professor at Harvard Business School who’d joined the board in 2006, spoke up.

Rick Wartzman, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2022 Western analysts, such as Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of War Studies, King’s College London dismiss the argument common in Russian foreign policy circles that Putin cannot lose.

Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2022 Margaret MacMillan, emeritus professor of international history at Oxford University, said Johnson has left the United Kingdom weakened both economically and constitutionally.

Jill Lawless, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Aug. 2022 Kwapich, who earned her Ph.D in evolution and ecology from Florida State University in 2014, credits Walter Tschinkel, her former thesis advisor and currently an FSU emeritus professor, for arranging the donation.

John Laidler, BostonGlobe.com, 30 June 2022 Jean-Guy Nadeau, an emeritus professor of religious studies at the University of Montreal, lamented the lack of transparency in the case.

Amanda Coletta, Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2022 Meanwhile, general authority Seventy Joseph W. Sitati, faith’s first Black African general authority, received emeritus status and gave his final conference address.

David Noyce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 6 Oct. 2022 Sommer basis this conclusion on calculations of bond returns that date back to 1794 by Edward McQuarrie, emeritus professor of business at Santa Clara University.

Nick Sargen, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2022 See More

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.