merit

[ mer-it ]

noun

1. claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth.

   Synonyms: esteem, value

2. something that deserves or justifies a reward or commendation; a commendable quality, act, etc.:

   The book's only merit is its sincerity.

3. merits, the inherent rights and wrongs of a matter, as a lawsuit, unobscured by procedural details, technicalities, personal feelings, etc.:

   The case will be decided on its merits alone.

4. Often merits. the state or fact of deserving; desert:

   to treat people according to their merits.

5. Roman Catholic Church. worthiness of spiritual reward, acquired by righteous acts made under the influence of grace.
6. Obsolete. something that is deserved, whether good or bad.

verb (used with object)

1. to be worthy of; deserve.

verb (used without object)

1. Chiefly Theology. to acquire merit.

adjective

1. based on merit:

   a merit raise of $25 a week.

merit

/ ˈmɛrɪt /

noun

1. worth or superior quality; excellence

   work of great merit

2. often plural a deserving or commendable quality or act

   judge him on his merits

3. Christianity spiritual credit granted or received for good works
4. the fact or state of deserving; desert
5. an obsolete word for reward

verb

1. tr to be worthy of; deserve

   he merits promotion

Derived Forms

• ˈmeritless, adjective
• ˈmerited, adjective

Other Words From

• merit·ed·ly adverb
• merit·less adjective
• half-merit·ed adjective
• over·merit verb
• pre·merit verb (used with object)
• self-merit noun
• un·merit·ed adjective
• un·merit·ed·ly adverb
• well-merit·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of merit¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Latin meritum “act worthy of praise (or blame),” noun use of neuter of meritus, past participle of merēre “to earn”

Word History and Origins

Origin of merit¹

C13: via Old French from Latin meritum reward, desert, from merēre to deserve

Idioms and Phrases

see on its merits .

Synonym Study

See desert ³.

Example Sentences

“If equivalent rates of fake data were discovered in any other field—for example, if 82% of people in the UK Biobank or 17% of galaxies detected by the Hubble telescope were revealed to be imaginary—a major scandal would ensue. In demography, however, such revelations seem to barely merit citation,” the paper says.

From Science Magazine

Two were absolutely on merit - Lewis Hamilton’s victories in Britain and Belgium.

From BBC

The win sees Littler move to fifth place in the PDC's Order of Merit, having been ranked 164 a year ago.

From BBC

Littler takes home £150,000 for winning the title, plus £3,500 for winning this group, taking his prize money to £558,500 for the Order of Merit, which is calculated over a two-year period.

From BBC

The results suggest the ecological consequences of retardant use merit further study, and that finding a cleaner product is probably worthwhile, said Daniel McCurry, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at USC and one of the study’s authors.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• deserve
• just deserts
• justify
• warrant