The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Emerge \E*merge"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Emerged; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Emerging.] [L. emergere, emersum; e out + mergere to
   dip, plunge. See Merge.]
   To rise out of a fluid; to come forth from that in which
   anything has been plunged, enveloped, or concealed; to issue
   and appear; as, to emerge from the water or the ocean; the
   sun emerges from behind the moon in an eclipse; to emerge
   from poverty or obscurity. "Thetis . . . emerging from the
   deep." --Dryden.
   [1913 Webster]

         Those who have emerged from very low, some from the
         lowest, classes of society.              --Burke.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

emerging
    adj 1: coming to maturity; "the rising generation" [syn:
           emerging, rising]
    2: coming into existence; "an emergent republic" [syn:
       emergent, emerging]