emeritus
adj.adj. used to describe a retired professional, like a professor, who keeps their title as an honor. It shows they are still respected for their long career.
adj. retaining a title as an honor after retirement from a professional position, most commonly in academic contexts. Typically follows the noun it modifies.
She is now a professor emeritus at the university.
After forty years of teaching, the department granted him emeritus status so he could continue his research.
The emeritus professor still maintains an office on campus, where he provides occasional mentorship to doctoral candidates while finishing his final volume on medieval history.
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.
Postpositive adjective — almost always placed immediately after the noun it modifies (e.g., 'Professor Emeritus').
the emeritus professorthe professor emeritusWhile sometimes used before the noun, it traditionally follows the title it modifies.