merit
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merit¹
- /ˈmɛɹɪt/ UK
- /ˈmɛɹət/ UK
- /ˈmɛɹɪt/ US
- /ˈmɛɹət/ US
Rhymes with -ɛɹɪt
Where it comes from
From Middle English merit, merite (“quality of person’s character or conduct deserving of reward or punishment; such reward or punishment; excellence, worthiness; benefit; right to be rewarded for spiritual service; retribution at doomsday; virtue through which Jesus Christ brings about salvation; virtue possessed by a holy person; power of a pagan deity”), from Anglo-Norman merit, merite, Old French merite (“moral worth, reward; merit”) (modern French mérite), from Latin meritum (“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”), neuter of meritus (“deserved, earned, obtained; due, proper, right; deserving, meritorious”), perfect passive participle of mereō (“to deserve, earn, obtain, merit; to earn a living”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot, assign”). The English word is probably cognate with Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”) and cognate with Old Occitan merit.
noun merits
- A claim to commendation or a reward. [R]eputation is an idle and moſt falſe impoſition , oft got without merit and loſt without deſeruing.
- A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence. For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten merits.
- Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward. His reward for his merit was a check for $50.
- The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment. to acquire or make merit
- Usually in the plural form the merits: the substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, a lawsuit, etc., as opposed to technical matters such as the admissibility of evidence or points of legal procedure; (by extension) the overall good or bad quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing. Even though the plaintiff was ordered by the judge to pay some costs for not having followed the correct procedure, she won the case on the merits.
- The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment. Be it known, that we the greateſt are mis-thoght / For things that others do : and when we fall, / We anſwer others merits, in our name / Are therefore to be pittied.
merit²
- /ˈmɛɹɪt/ UK
- /ˈmɛɹət/ UK
- /ˈmɛɹɪt/ US
- /ˈmɛɹət/ US
Rhymes with -ɛɹɪt
Where it comes from
From Middle English meriten, from Middle French meriter, Old French meriter (“to deserve, merit”) (modern French mériter), from merite: see further in Etymology 1. The word is cognate with Italian meritare (“to deserve, merit; to be worth; to earn”), Latin meritāre (“to earn regularly; to serve as a soldier”), Spanish meritar (“to deserve, merit; to earn”).
verb merits · meriting · merited · merit
- To deserve, to earn. Her performance merited wild applause.
- To be deserving or worthy. They were punished as they merited.
- To reward. Thus charg’d thy sire, which thou forgett’st: yet now those thoughts appease / That torture thy great spirit with wrath; which if thou wilt give surcease, / The king will merit it with gifts ; and if thou wilt give ear / I’ll tell you how much he offers thee:—yet thou sitt’st angry here.
