emerge

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈmɜːd͡ʒ/ (UK); /ɪˈmɝd͡ʒ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French émerger and directly Latin ēmergō (“to rise out or up, come forth”),^[2][3] from ē- (“out”) (a form of ex) and mergō (“to dip, sink”) (see merge).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a fact or principle, to come out as the result of an inquiry: 1563–87, in an edition of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, in Barnhart and the OED;^[3][5] the 1560s in Etymonline.^[2] The New Oxford gives the sense to come to light.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The underlying idea is rising from a liquid by buoyancy.^[2] To come up out of a liquid is from 1640,^[5] and to rise by buoyancy from 1667.^[5] To rise into notice or out of obscurity is from 1664,^[5] and to come forth into view from an enclosed space from 1700.^[5] Of a ray of light leaving a lens or prism it is from 1704, in Newton's Opticks.^[5] The nouns emergence and emergency are from the 17th century.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1563–87 – to come to light.^[3][5]
• 1640 – to come up out of a liquid.^[5]
• 1664 – to rise from obscurity.^[5]
• 1700 – to come into view.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To come out into view, as from hiding or obscurity.
2. To rise to the surface of water or another liquid.
3. To become known or evident.
4. To come into existence; to develop.
5. To come through a difficult experience: he emerged with dignity.

Word family

• unemerged
• reemerge

Related words

• emergence
• emergency
• emergent
• merge
• immerse
• submerge

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press