Standard Lemma guide

emergence

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ɪˈmɜː.d͡ʒ(ə)ns/
  • UK: /iˈmɜː.d͡ʒ(ə)ns/
  • General-American: /ɪˈmɝ.d͡ʒ(ə)ns/
  • General-American: /iˈmɝ.d͡ʒ(ə)ns/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)dʒəns
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 M ER1 JH AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: IY1 M ER0 JH AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view; appearance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view; appearance.

The arising of emergent structure in complex systems.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An emergency.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An outgrowth from the surface, such as a prickle or wart, differing from hairs in arising from more than the superficial cells, and from spines in arising from a few layers only.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the act of coming (or going) out; becoming apparent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: egress, egression

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: act, deed, human action, human activity

Narrower terms: surfacing, emission, emanation

6

noun

Meaning 6

the act of emerging

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: emersion

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: appearance

7

noun

Meaning 7

the becoming visible

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • not a day's difference between the emergence of the andrenas and the opening of the willow catkins

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: egress, issue

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: beginning

Narrower terms: eruption, dissilience

8

noun

Meaning 8

the gradual beginning or coming forth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • figurines presage the emergence of sculpture in Greece

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: outgrowth, growth

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: beginning

Narrower terms: rise

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French émergence. Doublet of emergency. By surface analysis, emerge + -ence.

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: изплуване (izpluvane) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Bulgarian: появяване (pojavjavane) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Catalan: emergència — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Czech: vynoření — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Czech: vznik — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Dutch: opkomst — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Finnish: ilmaantuminen — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Finnish: esille tuleminen — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Finnish: ilmestyminen — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Finnish: pilkahtaminen — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • French: émergence — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Latin: ēmergentia — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Macedonian: појаву́вање (pojavúvanje) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Macedonian: излегу́вање (izlegúvanje) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Macedonian: возникну́вање (vozniknúvanje) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Occitan: emergéncia — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Russian: всплыва́ние (vsplyvánije) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Russian: всплы́тие (vsplýtije) — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Serbo-Croatian: emergencija — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Spanish: surgimiento — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Spanish: emersión — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Swedish: uppdykande — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Tocharian B: lalñe — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Turkish: zuhur — the act of rising out of a fluid, or coming forth from envelopment or concealment, or of rising into view
  • Arabic: انبثاق — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Armenian: առաջացում (aṙaǰacʻum) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Bulgarian: поява (pojava) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Catalan: propietats emergents — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Chinese: 突現 /突现 (thé-hiān) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Chinese Mandarin: 湧現 /涌现 (chūxiàn) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Chinese Mandarin: 出現 /出现 (chūxiàn) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Chinese Mandarin: 突現 /突现 (tūxiàn) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Czech: emergence — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Dutch: emergentie — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Finnish: emergenssi — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • French: émergence — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • German: Emergenz — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Italian: emergenza — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Japanese: 創発 (sōhatsu) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Macedonian: по́јава (pójava) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Norwegian: emergens — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Polish: emergencja — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Portuguese: emergência — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Russian: появле́ние (pojavlénije) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Russian: возникнове́ние (vozniknovénije) — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Serbo-Croatian: emergencija — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Slovak: emergencia — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Spanish: emergencia — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Spanish: emersión — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Swedish: emergens — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
  • Turkish: belirme — the arising of emergent structure in complex systems
Real reading context

emergence in complete knowledge articles