The noun is derived fromMiddle Englishmerit,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”),[1] fromAnglo-Normanmerit,merite,Old Frenchmerite(“moral worth, reward; merit”) (modernFrenchmérite), fromLatinmeritum(“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”),neuter ofmeritus(“deserved, earned, obtained; due, proper, right; deserving, meritorious”),perfectpassiveparticiple ofmereō(“to deserve, earn, obtain, merit; to earn a living”), fromProto-Indo-European*(s)mer-(“to allot, assign”). The English word is probably cognate withAncient Greekμέρος(méros,“component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”) and cognate withOld Occitanmerit.[2]
The verb is derived fromMiddle Frenchmeriter,Old Frenchmeriter(“to deserve, merit”) (modernFrenchmériter), frommerite:see further above. The word is cognate withItalianmeritare(“to deserve, merit; to be worth; to earn”),Latinmeritāre(“to earn regularly; to serve as a soldier”),Spanishmeritar(“to deserve, merit; to earn”).[3]
merit (countable anduncountable,pluralmerits)
- (countable) Aclaim tocommendation or areward.
c.1603–1604 (date written),William Shakespeare,The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] forThomas Walkley, […], published1622,→OCLC,[Act III, scene iii],page36:[R]eputation is an idle and moſt falſe impoſition , oft got withoutmerit and loſt without deſeruing.
- (countable) Amark ortoken ofapprobation or torecognizeexcellence.
- Antonym:demerit
For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her tenmerits.
a.1722 (date written),Matthew Prior, “An Ode Humbly Inscrib’d to the Queen”, inThe Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published1779,→OCLC, stanza IX,page275:Thoſe laurel groves (themerits of thy youth), / Which thou fromMahomet didſt greatly gain, / While, bold aſſertor of reſiſtleſs truth, / Thy ſword did godlike liberty maintain, / Muſt from thy brow their falling honours ſhed, / And their tranſplanted wreaths muſt deck a worthier head.
- (countable, uncountable) Somethingdeserving orworthy ofpositiverecognition or reward.
- Synonyms:excellence,value,worth
- Antonym:demerit
His reward for hismerit was a check for $50.
1711 May, [Alexander Pope],An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […],→OCLC,page42:Such wasRoſcommon—not morelearn’d thangood; / With Manners gen’rous as his Noble Blood; / To him the Wit ofGreece andRome was known, / And ev’ry Author’sMerit but his own.
1877,Richard Fuller, “Sermon Thirteenth. The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness.”, inSermons by Richard Fuller, […] (Second Series), Baltimore, Md.: Published byJohn F[rederick] Weishampel, Jr.; Philadelphia, Pa.: American Baptist Publication Society; New York, N.Y.: Sheldon and Company,→OCLC,page244:In all our noble Anglo-Saxon language, there is scarcely a nobler word thanworth; yet this term has now almost exclusively a pecuniary meaning. So that if you ask what a man is worth, nobody ever thinks of telling you what heis, but what hehas. The answer will never refer to hismerits, his virtues, but always to his possessions. He is worth—so much money.
- (uncountable, Buddhism, Jainism) Thesum of all thegooddeeds that a person does whichdetermines thequality of the person's nextstate ofexistence andcontributes to the person'sgrowth towardsenlightenment.
to acquire or makemerit
1855 October, “Siamese Merit-making”, inThe Church Missionary Gleaner, volume V (New Series), London: Seeley, Jackson and Halliday […],→OCLC,page118:It is no small tax upon the people to support their [Buddhist] priests, but they do it with a willing heart. When I was once at the old capital, I saw a woman, from her own stock, feed more than fifty priests, who came to her in his turn, and received his portion. [...] If I had asked her why she thus spent so much of her living, her answer would have been, 'To makemerit.'
2015, Monica Lindberg Falk, “Communication across Boundaries”, inPost-Tsunami Recovery in Thailand: Socio-cultural Responses (The Modern Anthropology of Southeast Asia), Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.:Routledge,→ISBN,page90:At funerals, acts of sharing religiousmerit are central and relatives of the deceased makemerit in order to ensure that the departed family member will have a favourable rebirth.
- (uncountable, law)Usually in the plural formthe merits: thesubstantiverightness orwrongness of alegalargument, alawsuit, etc., asopposed totechnicalmatters such as theadmissibility ofevidence orpoints oflegalprocedure;(by extension) theoverallgood orbad 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 themerits.
1740,[Mathew Bacon], “Injunctions”, inA New Abridgment of the Law. By a Gentleman of the Middle Temple, volume III, in the Savoy[London]: Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling, (assigns of E. Sayer, Esq;) for Henry Lintot,→OCLC, section C (How Dissolved),page177:The Plaintiff muſt ſhew Cauſe either on theMerits, or upon filing Exceptions; if upon theMerits, the Court may put what Terms they pleaſe on him; as bringing in the Money, or paying it to the Parties, ſubject to the Order of the Court, [...]
2014, Karel Wellens, “Failed Post-adjudicative Negotiations and Returning to the Court”, inNegotiations in the Case Law of the International Court of Justice: A Functional Analysis, Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.:Ashgate Publishing,→ISBN, part III (Negotiations during the Post-adjudicative Phase),page311:[I]n most cases once the Court has performed its judicial function – as it had been determined by the parties through their Application or Special Agreement and their submissions – and has rendered its judgment on themerits of the case, a new phrase of functional interaction commences.
- (countable, obsolete) The quality or state of deservingretribution, whether reward orpunishment.
c.1606–1607 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene ii],page366, column 2:Be it known, that we the greateſt are mis-thoght / For things that others do : and when we fall, / We anſwer othersmerits, in our name / Are therefore to be pittied.
claim to commendation or a reward
mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence
something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward
(Buddhism,Jainism) sum of all the good deeds that a person does
(law) substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, etc.
merit (third-person singular simple presentmerits,present participlemeriting,simple past and past participlemerited)
- (transitive) Todeserve, toearn.
Her performancemerited wild applause.
1806, “Art. I.—Voyages en Italie, &c. Travels in Italy and Sicily, Made in 1801 and 1802. By M. Creuzé de Lesser, Member of the Legislative Body. 8vo. Paris. 1806. Imported by De Conchy.[book review]”, inThe Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature (Series the Third), volume IX (Appendix), number V, London: Printed for J. Mawman, […]; and sold by J. Deighton, […]; Hanwell and Parker, and J. Cooke, […],→OCLC,page465:Oh! France! charming country! where I had the good fortune to be born! one never quits thee with impunity. Celebrated for the rich beauty of thy soil, for the sociability of thy inhabitants, for all the comforts of civilized life, thoumeritest thy reputation, and nothing is so rare.
1814,Dante Alighieri, “Canto V”, inH[enry] F[rancis] Cary, transl.,The Vision; or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, of Dante Alighieri. […], volume II (Purgatory), London: […] [J. Barfield] for Taylor and Hessey, […],→OCLC,page19, lines19–21:What other could I answer save "I come"? / I said it, somewhat with that colour ting'd / Which oftimes pardonmeriteth for man.
1897 December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill, chapter V, inThe Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC,page78:Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation itmerited.
2001,Salman Rushdie,Fury: A Novel, London:Jonathan Cape,→ISBN,page 5:Sudden anger rose in him. “What I’m looking for,” he barked, “is to be left in peace.” His voice trembled with a rage far bigger than her intrusionmerited, the rage which shocked him whenever it coursed through his nervous system, like a flood.
2014, Hanoch Sheinman, “Tort Law and Distributive Justice”, in John Oberdiek, editor,Philosophical Foundations of the Law of Torts, Oxford:Oxford University Press,→ISBN, part III (The Aristotelian Distinction),page361:Take the principle that requires distribution of help in accord with need. It would certainly support allocating some help to its only potential recipient, provided she is in need. And on the plausible assumption that the moremeriting of some good one is the more good onemerits, the principle would support allocating more of the help to her the greater her needs.
- (intransitive) To bedeserving orworthy.
They were punished as theymerited.
1753,Thomas of Jesus, “Suffering of Christ.[Contemplation on Christ Carrying His Cross.]”, inThe Sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Written Originally in Portuguese[...] Newly and Faithfully Translated into English. In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for J. Marmaduke,→OCLC, paragraph VIII,page209:There is none but thee, O ſon of the living God! O faithful friend of our ſouls! that willingly beareſt the croſs for others. All that thoumeriteſt by thy croſs, thoumeriteſt for us; and thou deſireſt no our recompence for it than our profit.
- (transitive, obsolete, rare) Toreward.
[1611?],Homer, “Book IX”, inGeo[rge] Chapman, transl.,The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter,→OCLC; republished asThe Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London:Charles Knight and Co., […],1843,→OCLC,page203: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 willmerit it with gifts ; and if thou wilt give ear / I’ll tell you how much he offers thee:—yet thou sitt’st angry here.- The spelling has been modernized.
to be deserving or worthy
- ^“merī̆t(e,n.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved12 February 2019.
- ^“merit,n.”, inOED Online
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2001;“merit”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022. - ^“merit,v.”, inOED Online, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2001.
merit (Buddhism) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia- merit (Catholicism) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- merit (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “merit”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
- “merit”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
- “merit”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
FromLatinmeritum.
 | This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with theIPA then please add some! |
merit m (pluralmeric)
- merit
Borrowed fromFrenchmérite.
merit n (pluralmerite)
- merit
merit
- first-personsingularpresentindicative/subjunctive ofmerita
merit c
- a thing that counts to someone'smerit (especially in the context of qualifying for a job, position, or the like), (in that context) aqualification, "a"credential
Vilkameriter krävs?- Whatqualifications are required?
Tidigare erfarenhet med att arbeta i kök är enmerit- Previous experience working in a kitchen is anadvantage (in the context of a job ad or the like)
Englishmerit can partly be considered afalse friend. Always thought of as countable in Swedish.
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2001;“merit”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
