emergency

English Online Dictionary. What means emergency‎? What does emergency mean?

English

Alternative forms

• emergence (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo (“to emerge, arise, come forth”), equivalent to emergent +‎ -cy or emerge +‎ -ency. Doublet of emergence.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈmɝ.d͡ʒən.si/, /iˈmɝ.d͡ʒən.si/, /əˈmɝ.d͡ʒən.si/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /əˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/
• Hyphenation: e‧mer‧gen‧cy
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dʒənsi

Noun

emergency (plural emergencies)

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

2. The department of a hospital that treats emergencies.
3. A person brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc.
   • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk

     Van Gaal responded by replacing Adnan Januzaj with Carrick and, in fairness, the emergency centre-half did exceedingly well given that he has not played since May.

4. (attributive) Arising from or used in an emergency.
5. (archaic) The quality of being emergent; sudden or unexpected appearance; an unforeseen occurrence.
6. (euphemistic) A critical urge to urinate or defecate.

Synonyms

• (hospital department): ER, casualty, emerg

Derived terms

Related terms

• emerge
• emergence

Translations

See also

• fire department
• police