emerge

Etymology

First attested in the late 16th century. Borrowed from Middle French emerger, from Latin ēmergere (“to rise up or out”), from ē- (a variant of ex- (“out, forth”)) + mergere (“to dip, to sink”)

verb

1. (intransitive) To come into view.
   The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […]. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess
   Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as a key focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood. 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion
   With such focus from within the footballing community this week on Remembrance Sunday, there was something appropriate about Colchester being the venue for last night’s game. Troops from the garrison town formed a guard of honour for both sets of players, who emerged for the national anthem with poppies proudly stitched into their tracksuit jackets. November 10, 2011, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph
2. (intransitive, copulative) To come out of a situation, object or a liquid.
   He emerged unscathed from the accident.
   The Soviet Union emerged from the ruins of an empire.
   The submarine emerged from the ocean.
   Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals. 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 172
3. (intransitive) To become known.
   Gradually the truth emerged.
   The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy. 2014-06-21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892

noun

1. Alternative spelling of emerg