Emeritus (
/ɨˈmɛrɨtəs/; plural
emeriti; abbreviation
emer.) is a
post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired
professor,
bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent
emerita (/ɨˈmɛrɨtə/) is also sometimes used.
In many cases the term is conferred automatically upon all persons who retire at a given rank. This is the usual case for retired professors. In other cases it is used when a person of importance in a given profession retires and/or hands over the position, so that his former rank can still be used in his title. The word is used either as a postpositional adjective (e.g., "professor emeritus") or as a preposition adjective (e.g., "emeritus professor"). There is a third, somewhat less common usage, following the full title (e.g.,professor of medicine, emeritus.) In the United Kingdom, "Emeritus professor" is the more common form. The word is capitalized when it forms part of a title which is capitalized.
The word originated in the mid-18th century from
Latin as the past participle of
emereri meaning to "earn one's discharge by service."
Emereri itself is a compound of the prefix
e- (a variant of
ex-) meaning "out of or from" and
merēre meaning "earn."
Emeritus does not necessarily indicate that the person is retired from all the duties of her/his previous positions; he or she may continue to exercise some of them.