Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To move out or away from a surrounding fluid, covering, or shelter.
  • intransitive verb To come into view: synonym: appear.
  • intransitive verb To become conscious.
  • intransitive verb To become known or prominent after being in obscurity.
  • intransitive verb To come into existence.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To rise from or out of anything that surrounds, covers, or conceals; come forth; appear, as from concealment; come into view, as into a higher position or state: as, to emerge from the water or from the ocean; the sun emerges from behind a cloud, or from an eclipse; to emerge from poverty, obscurity, or misfortune.
  • To issue; proceed.
  • To come into existence; pass from being in cause to being in act.
  • To immerge; sink.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To rise out of a fluid; to come forth from that in which anything has been plunged, enveloped, or concealed; to issue and appear

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To come into view.
  • verb intransitive, copulative To come out of a situation, object or a liquid.
  • verb intransitive To become known.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb happen or occur as a result of something
  • verb become known or apparent
  • verb come out into view, as from concealment
  • verb come out of
  • verb come up to the surface of or rise

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin ēmergere : ē-, ex-, ex- + mergere, to immerse.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

[Late 16th Century] From Middle French emerger, from Latin emergere ("to rise up or out"), from e-, a variant of ex- ("out, forth"), + mergere ("to dip, to sink")

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Examples

  • Krinak saw the elder lemkin emerge from the dust, brandishing his stick at the giant as he said, You!

    The Size of Things « A Fly in Amber 2009

  • Will McCain emerge from the debate with a clear and crisp position regarding what the Government's best action should be on the fiscal crisis.

    Debate Watch List… - Swampland - TIME.com 2008

  • Sega know that fans want to see a new title emerge, but are apparently mindful of the fact that previous games didn't sell well - that said they seem keen to get a new game made, regardless.

    Jolt 2010

  • Thus, in the Western philosophical tradition, occasionalists in the proper sense of the term emerge in earnest in the wake of René Descartes (1596 “ 1650) in the form of “Cartesian occasionalists”.

    Occasionalism Lee, Sukjae 2008

  • WASHINGTON (CNNMoney. com) – As President Obama turns up the heat on health care reform, one new and surprising detail to emerge is his pledge to tackle medical malpractice.

    Curbing medical lawsuits: What Obama really means 2009

  • No way now, and no way under any reform bill that is likely to emerge from the Congress.

    CNN Truth Squad: Is health care rationing in the cards? 2009

  • Two days of high-level talks between the United States and China concluded with broad agreement on separate strategies to help their economies and the world emerge from the global recession.

    POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: July 29, 2009 2009

  • I loved seeing Adam emerge from the crowd of whiteb read but I fear AI will lean towards a flock of emo rockers and screaming teens and that will be sooo not good.

    'The X Factor' in the U.S.?: Five reasons that makes me fear for 'American Idol' | EW.com 2009

  • Many Republicans in South Carolina - believing that Jenny Sanford holds the cards to the governor's fate - are waiting to see what facts emerge from the family meeting in Florida before making any public comment.

    Sanford returns to SC as Republicans mull his fate 2009

  • Theosophy emphasized the principle that all religions emerge from a universal source.

    Boing Boing 2009

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