Definition of "emergent" []

• Coming into view, existence, or notice: emergent spring shoots; an emergent political leader. (adjective)
• Emerging: emergent nations. (adjective)
• Rising above a surrounding medium, especially a fluid. (adjective)
• Arising or occurring unexpectedly: money laid aside for emergent contingencies. (adjective)
• Demanding prompt action; urgent. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "China's position is best illustrated by an influential foreign policy advisor to Chinese leaders who requested an edit to the forum's communiqué: the phrase "emergent nations led by China" was to be changed to "emergent nations including China"."
• "Purposely ignoring American Jews, Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants and many evangelicals-about 70 percent of religious Americans-Bloom focuses on the Mormons, the Southern Baptists and other made-in-America sects to tease out what he calls the emergent "American Religion.""
• "What it does not recognize is the third case, which we call emergent strategy where a realized pattern was not expressly intended."