Etymograph

English

emergency

Emergency comes from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens ‘emerging’, from ēmergō ‘to emerge’, from ex- + mergō ‘to dip’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mesg-1‘to dip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mésgeti1‘to sink’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mezgō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmergō1‘to dip’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEemergo2‘to emerge’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEemergens2‘emerging’present participle of emergo
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500emergentia2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2009emergency2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin emergo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English emergency
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Restless Heart Syndrome: “I've got a really bad disease It's got me…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mesg-Wiktionary, Latin emergo‘to dip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mésgetiWiktionary, Latin emergo‘to sink’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mezgōWiktionary, Latin emergoreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmergōWiktionary, Latin emergo‘to dip’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEemergoWiktionary, English emergency‘to emerge’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEemergensWiktionary, English emergency‘emerging’present participle of emergo
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500emergentiaWiktionary, English emergency
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2009emergencyWiktionary, English emergency. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Restless Heart Syndrome: “I've got a really bad disease It's got me…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mesg- ‘to dip, sink’

mascot, 5 more

through Latin mergō ‘to dip, to immerse, to plunge’

immersion, merge, immerse, 5 more

Today it means

noun A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “emergency”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin emergo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mesg- / emergency

Shirt and support for this word