emeritus
/ɪˈmɛɹɪtəs/
Etymology
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin ēmeritus (“(having been) earned, (having been) merited; (having been) served, having done one’s service”), the perfect passive participle of ēmereō (“to earn, merit; to gain by service; (military) to complete one’s obligation to serve, to serve out one’s time”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + mereō (“to deserve, merit; to acquire, earn, get, obtain; to render service to; to serve”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot; to assign”)).
The noun is derived from the adjective. The plural form emeriti is borrowed from Latin ēmeritī.
emeritus means retired, but retaining an honorific version of a previous title. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 76 out of 100.
emeritus is pronounced /ɪˈmɛɹɪtəs/.
Why “emeritus” is a great word
EMERITUS — [Adjective, Noun] Retired but retaining an honorary title; a person, especially a professor or clergyman, who holds such a title. From Latin ēmeritus, the perfect passive participle of ēmerēre ("to earn fully, merit by service, serve out one's term"), from ex- ("out") + merēre ("to deserve, earn"). Unlike "retired," which simply denotes an end to active work, or "emerita," the explicitly feminine form of the title, "emeritus" conveys a state of honored completion. It is the book-lined office kept in perpetuity, the brass nameplate left on a vacated door, and the distinctive gown worn only at commencement—the institution’s formal acknowledgment that service renders the servant a permanent, if distant, part of the house.
adj
- Retired, but retaining an honorific version of a previous title.“emeritus professor professor emeritus professors emeritae”
noun
- A (male) person who is retired from active service or an occupation, especially one who retains an honorific version of a previous title.“Martin Engels said: “I am not posted on dyke-bridges, but if it is a Dutch scheme there may be something in it. That engineer made a mistake by calling the city officials emerituses. He should not call people names if he wants the Municipal Council to build his twenty-four-million-dollar bridge. If the Tammany organization wants to build a dyke-bridge, I’m for it.””
- An honorific version of a previous title.“With a string of “emerituses” behind his name, last of which was acquired with the Welfare society resignation, [George Q.] Sheppard now lives in retirement in his home at The Hill, 722 King street.”