emeritus
emeritus Lexical Profile
emeritus Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Having retired from active professional service (especially as a university professor, minister, or executive) while retaining one's former title as an honor.
"The university invited the professor emeritus to deliver the keynote address at the annual commencement ceremony."
• noun
A person who has retired from an official or academic position and been permitted to retain the title of that office as an honor.
"As a respected emeritus of the faculty, he still maintained a small research office in the chemistry building."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adjective, 'emeritus' is frequently placed immediately after the noun it modifies (e.g., 'professor emeritus'). While traditionally masculine—with 'emerita' used for a woman and 'emeriti' for the plural—'emeritus' is increasingly used as a gender-neutral form in modern English.
• Rhymes for emeritus
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 18th century directly from Latin 'emeritus', the past participle of 'emereri' ('to earn one's discharge by service'), which was originally applied to Roman soldiers who had completed their mandatory term of military duty.