merit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any admirable quality or attribute
    virtue.
    • work of great merit
  2. noun the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance)
    deservingness; meritoriousness.
    • there were many children whose deservingness he recognized and rewarded
  3. verb be worthy or deserving
    deserve.
    • You deserve a promotion after all the hard work you have done

WordNet

Mer"it noun
Etymology
F. mérite, L. meritum, fr. merere, mereri, to deserve, merit; prob. originally, to get a share; akin to Gr. part, fate, doom, to receive as one's portion. Cf. Market, Merchant, Mercer, Mercy.
Definitions
  1. The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert.
    Here may men see how sin hath his merit. Chaucer.
    Be it known, that we, the greatest, are misthought For things that others do; and when we fall, We answer other's merits in our name. Shak.
  2. Esp. in a good sense: The quality or state of deserving well; worth; excellence.
    Reputation is ... oft got without merit, and lost without deserving. Shak.
    To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And every author's merit, but his own. Pope.
  3. Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or approbation; as, his teacher gave him ten merits.
    Those laurel groves, the merits of thy youth. Prior.
Mer"it transitive verb
Etymology
F. mériter, L. meritare, v. intens. fr. merere. See Merit, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Merited; present participle & verbal noun Meriting
Definitions
  1. To earn by service or performance; to have a right to claim as reward; to deserve; sometimes, to deserve in a bad sense; as, to merit punishment. "This kindness merits thanks." Shak.
  2. To reward. R. & Obs. Chapman.
Mer"it intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit. Obs. Beau. & Fl.

Webster 1913