Emergencies
nounSerious, unexpected situations that require immediate action.
How to spell emergencies
11 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce emergencies
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does emergencies mean?
- nounSerious, unexpected situations that require immediate action.
Emergencies in a sentence
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The hospital keeps spare beds ready for medical emergencies.
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Travel insurance should cover emergencies that happen abroad.
Where does emergencies come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This word traces back to the Latin verb emergere, which meant 'to rise out' or 'to come forth', built from the prefix e- (a form of ex-, meaning 'out') and mergere (meaning 'to dip' or 'to plunge'). So an emergence was literally something rising up out of where it had been submerged. By the 1600s English had formed 'emergency' to name a sudden, unforeseen situation that 'emerges' and demands immediate action. The shared root still surfaces in the everyday words 'emerge', 'merge', and 'submerge'. The plural follows the standard English rule for words ending in a consonant plus -y: the -y becomes -ies, which is the small spelling trap here, since the singular -cy quietly turns into -cies.
How the word is built
- e- (out)
- merg (from mergere: to dip, plunge)
- -ency (noun of state)
- -ies (plural of -y)
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