# emergency

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si/ · frequency rank #1,935

## Definitions
1. A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.
2. The department of a hospital that treats emergencies.
3. A person brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc.
4. The quality of being emergent; sudden or unexpected appearance; an unforeseen occurrence.
5. A critical urge to urinate or defecate.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo (“to emerge, arise, come forth”), equivalent to emergent + -cy or emerge + -ency. Doublet of emergence.

## Easily confused with
- **emergent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/emergency-vs-emergent)
- **emergence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/emergence-vs-emergency)

## Common misspellings (14)
`eemrgency`, `emegrency`, `emeregncy`, `emergecny`, `emergenccy`, `emergencyy`, `emergenncy`, `emergenyc`, `emerggency`, `emergnecy`, `emerrgency`, `emmergency`, `emregency`, `meergency`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/emergency