emergency

Meaning

Noun

• A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.
• The department of a hospital that treats emergencies.
• An individual brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc.
• The quality of being emergent; sudden or unexpected appearance; an unforeseen occurrence.

Related

Similar words

• ER, casualty, emerg

Origin

• Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo, equivalent to emergent + -cy or emerge + -ency.