emeritus

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 23, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>emeritus</strong> &#149; \ih-MEH-ruh-tus\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> holding after retirement an honorary title corresponding to that held last during active service</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> retired from an office or position</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>Following her retirement after 35 years of teaching, Dr. Stevens will remain affiliated with the university as a professor <em>emeritus</em>.</p> <p>"She started her career in 1980 at Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, and retired as CEO <em>Emeritus</em> in 2018…."— <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2021/05/grand-rapids-community-college-trustee-kathy-crosby-resigns-to-focus-on-health-family.html?outputType=amp">Melissa Frick, <em>MLive.com</em> (Michigan), 18 May 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>In Latin, <em>emeritus</em> was used to describe soldiers who had completed their duty. It is the past participle of the verb <em>emereri</em>, meaning "to serve out one's term," from the prefix <em>e-</em>, meaning "out," and <em>merēre</em>, "to earn, deserve, or serve." (<em>Merēre</em> is also the source of our word <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/merit">merit</a></em>.) English speakers claimed <em>emeritus</em> 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 <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/postpositively">postpositively</a>—that is, after the noun it modifies rather than before it—and it is most commonly used to describe specifically those retired from a