emerita

American  

[ih-mer-i-tuh] / ɪˈmɛr ɪ tə /

adjective

1. (of a woman) retired or honorably discharged from active professional duty, but retaining the title of one's office or position.

   Kate Johnson, Professor Emerita of Music.

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noun

plural

emeritae

1. a woman with such status.

Etymology

Origin of emerita

< Latin, feminine of ēmeritus emeritus

Compare meaning

How does emerita compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• emerita vs. emeritus

Example Sentences

The author, a professor emerita at Loyola University Chicago, has written not a conventional history, but, a far more subtle enterprise, a history of feeling.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

She’s a professor emerita of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley, and she studies the aftermath of fires.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2025

“Pregnant women have become essentially untouchables,” said Sara Rosenbaum, a health law and policy professor emerita at George Washington University.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2024

Marjorie Taylor, professor emerita of psychology at the University of Oregon and an expert on imaginary friends, wasn’t sure.

From New York Times • May 17, 2024

No sooner had the "lady," as Byron was pleased to call her, played her part as decoy, than she was discharged as emerita.

From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3 by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley

Related Words

• elderly
• resigned