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EMERITUS

/ɪˈmɛɹɪtəs/8 letters

Definition of EMERITUS

adjective

Retired, but retaining an honorific version of a previous title.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin ēmeritus (“(having been) earned, (having been) merited; (having been) served, having done one’s service”), the perfect passive participle of ēmereō (“to earn, merit; to gain by service; (military) to complete one’s obligation to serve, to serve out one’s time”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + mereō (“to deserve, merit; to acquire, earn, get, obtain; to render service to; to serve”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot; to assign”)). The noun is derived from the adjective. The plural form emeriti is borrowed from Latin ēmeritī.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Word DNA

Line of descent

  1. Proto-Indo-European
  2. Latin
  3. English

2 recorded generations before English.

Proto-Indo-European

Deepest traced root

2nd

of 59 source languages in OUTLIER

14.2%

of traced words share this origin (11,506)

How it is built

adjective4 syllablescompoundex-

Same root, EMERITUS · 1 relative in the game

Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

EMERITUS in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 43 boards so far. 163 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 162
Its 43 boards, across 162 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
43
Boards found on
13
First board
157
Latest board
15
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 13, 2 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 157, 24 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.

First ever to find it

katertot

on Day 13, 2 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

EMERITUS
8
Letters
4
Vowels
4
Consonants
7
Different letters
1
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

EMERITUS starts with E and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EEIMRSTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.

Words that start EMERIT

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Could you have found EMERITUS?

OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 13 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER