/ iˈmerɪtəs; NAmE / adjective
(often Emeritus ) used with a title to show that a person, usually a university teacher, keeps the title as an honour, although he or she has stopped working :
the Emeritus Professor of Biology
HELP NOTE : In NAmE the form Emerita / iˈmerɪtə / is used for women:
Professor Emerita Mary Judd
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 18th cent.: from Latin , past participle of emereri earn one's discharge by service, from e- (variant of ex- ) out of, from + mereri earn.