emeritus Latin · revision 35717

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la mereō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ēmeritus''' (feminine ēmerita, neuter ēmeritum); first/second-declension adjective; as a noun, '''ēmeritus''' ''m'' (genitive ēmeritī); second declension^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Used as an adjective, it is the perfect participle [[der|la|ēmereō|t=to serve out, earn]], also of the deponent ēmereor.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Conte 2010) The verb is [[af|la|ex-|mereō|t2=to earn]],^(OLD 2012) and de Vaan records it from Plautus on.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It first appears in Plautus, where a single campaign has been served out (''ēmeritum est stīpendium'').^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ With ''stīpendia'' or ''annī'' it describes military service completed, as in Sallust, Cicero, Livy and Ovid.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Valerius Maximus uses the deponent participle of a soldier who had served out his campaigns.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) As a noun, ''ēmeritus'' is a soldier who has finished his time, a veteran, in Lucan, Tacitus, Suetonius and inscriptions.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In poetry it is transferred to whatever has finished its work: Ovid has the countryman hang up his ''ēmeritum arātrum'', the plough that has done its service, Lucan ships drawn back from the docks, Pliny the Elder a spent vine shoot and Statius old hounds.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Of time it means completed, as Ovid's year that has run its courses.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it describes a retired person, and the neuter ''ēmeritum'' is a pension.^(Stelten 1995) The medieval noun still meant a veteran soldier.^(Köbler 2010) Italian [[m|it|emerito]] continues it.^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a campaign served out.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust writes of completed terms of service.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a plough that has done its work.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it as a noun for veterans.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 959–1014 – The medieval noun for a veteran soldier appears in Nadda.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having served out one's time (in the army); of service, completed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(transferred)'' Having finished its work, worn out by service, past use.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # Of a period, completed, run out.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' [[m|en|retired]]; deserving.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A soldier who has served his time, a [[m|en|veteran]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A retired person;^(Stelten 1995) ''ēmeritum'', a [[m|en|pension]].^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}