emerita means A female person who is retired from active service or an occupation, especially one who retains an honorific version of a previous title. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why “emerita” is a great word
EMERITA — [Noun] A woman retired from active service or an occupation, retaining an honorific version of her title as recognition of earned standing. From the Latin ēmerita, the feminine singular form of ēmeritus ("having served one's time, veteran"), from ē- ("out") + meritus, past participle of merēre ("to earn, deserve, serve"). Unlike "emeritus" (which often obscures the feminine within a generic masculine) or "retiree" (a flat administrative term devoid of honorific gravity), "emerita" is a precise and dignified conferral. It is the brass nameplate left on the door; the patient silence of a final manuscript on a shelf; the slow, deliberate pace across a quadrangle, no longer hurrying to a class but forever part of its architecture. The word translates accrued merit into a permanent, recognized tense.
noun
- A female person who is retired from active service or an occupation, especially one who retains an honorific version of a previous title.“And the older women faculty, the emeritae lived around the college and you talked to them and you heard it ... you know, they were just devoted to that place body and soul, and they didn’t care if they made two bent nickels a year, […]”