Definition of MERIT

merit

Plural: merit, merited, merits

Noun

  • any admirable quality or attribute
    • "work of great merit"
  • the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance)
  • A claim to commendation or a reward.
  • A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.
  • Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.

Verb

  • be worthy or deserving
  • To deserve, to earn.
  • To be deserving or worthy.
  • To reward.
  • -ED, -ING, -S to earn

Examples

  • "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."
  • "For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten merits."
  • "Her performance merited wild applause."
  • "His reward for his merit was a check for $50."
  • "They were punished as they merited."
  • "to acquire or make merit"

Origin / Etymology

The noun is derived 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.
The verb is derived from Middle French meriter, Old French meriter (“to deserve, merit”) (modern French mériter), from merite: see further above. 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”).

Antonyms

demerit

Scrabble Score: 7

merit: valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
merit: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
merit: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

merit is a valid Words With Friends word