merit

[mer-it] /ˈmɛr ɪt/
noun
1.
claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth.
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)
7.
to be worthy of; deserve.
verb (used without object)
8.
Chiefly Theology. to acquire merit.
adjective
9.
based on merit:
a merit raise of $25 a week.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English < Latin meritum act worthy of praise (or blame), noun use of neuter of meritus, past participle of merēre to earn
Related forms
meritedly, adverb
meritless, adjective
half-merited, adjective
overmerit, verb
premerit, verb (used with object)
self-merit, noun
unmerited, adjective
unmeritedly, adverb
well-merited, adjective
Synonyms
1. value, credit. Merit, desert, worth refer to the quality in a person, action, or thing that entitles recognition, especially favorable recognition. Merit is usually the excellence that entitles to praise: a person of great merit. Desert is the quality that entitles one to a just reward: according to her deserts. Worth is always used in a favorable sense and signifies inherent value or goodness: The worth of your contribution is incalculable.
Examples from the web for merited
  • Their structure--an elegant double helix--almost merited such enthusiasm.
  • When the for-profit motive is thrown into the mix, suspicions--merited or otherwise--naturally increase.
  • Parole boards served as another brake on unduly harsh sentences, deciding when prisoners merited early release.
  • But as to the other sections that merited disapproval, there was no senator who dared to condemn them.
  • All this amounted to a big disruption of the sort merited only by genuine danger.
  • In that context, the tenor of my comments on this thread have not merited the kind of rage you are spewing.
  • If the latter, then perhaps a change in approach is merited.
  • Paging through the rough draft of the list, figuring out who merited the extra attention, was a strange experience.
  • Even allowing for the hyperbole generated on such occasions the commendations were merited.
  • Work that ordinarily would have merited a day sale seemed to pad out the more prestigious evening events.
British Dictionary definitions for merited

merit

/ˈmɛrɪt/
noun
1.
worth or superior quality; excellence: work of great merit
2.
(often pl) 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 -its, -iting, -ited
6.
(transitive) to be worthy of; deserve: he merits promotion
See also merits
Derived Forms
merited, adjective
meritless, adjective
Word Origin
C13: via Old French from Latin meritum reward, desert, from merēre to deserve
Word Origin and History for merited
adj.

"well-earned," c.1600, past participle adjective from merit (v.).

merit

n.

c.1200, "spiritual credit" (for good works, etc.); c.1300, "spiritual reward," from Old French merite "wages, pay, reward; thanks; merit, moral worth, that which assures divine pity," and directly from Latin meritum "a merit, service, kindness, benefit, favor; worth, value, importance," neuter of meritus, past participle of merere, meriri "to earn, deserve, acquire, gain," from PIE root *(s)mer- "to allot, assign" (cf. Greek meros "part, lot," moira "share, fate," moros "fate, destiny, doom," Hittite mark "to divide" a sacrifice).

Sense of "worthiness, excellence" is from early 14c.; from late 14c. as "condition or conduct that deserves either reward or punishment;" also "a reward, benefit." Related: Merits. Merit system attested from 1880. Merit-monger was in common use 16c.-17c. in a sense roughly of "do-gooder."

v.

late 15c., "to be entitled to," from Middle French meriter (Modern French mériter), from merite (n.), or directly from Latin meritare "to earn, yield," frequentative of mereri "to earn (money);" also "to serve as a soldier" (see merit (n.)). Related: Merited; meriting.

Idioms and Phrases with merited

merit

see: on its merits