merit

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: mer=it

CIDE DICTIONARY

merit, n. [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.].

•  The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert.  [1913 Webster]

  "Here may men see how sin hath his merit."  [1913 Webster]

  "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."  [1913 Webster]
•  The quality or state of deserving well; worth; excellence.  [1913 Webster]

  "Reputation is . . . oft got without merit, and lost without deserving."  [1913 Webster]

  "To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known,
  And every author's merit, but his own."  [1913 Webster]
•  Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or approbation; as, his teacher gave him ten merits.  [1913 Webster]

  "Those laurel groves, the merits of thy youth."  [1913 Webster]

merit, v. t. [F. mériter, L. meritare, v. intens. fr. merere. See Merit, n.].

•  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.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To reward.  Chapman.  [1913 Webster]

merit, v. i. 

 To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit.  Beau. & Fl.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

merit, n. & v.
--n.
1 the quality of deserving well.
2 excellence, worth.
3 (usu. in pl.) a a thing that entitles one to reward or gratitude. b esp. Law intrinsic rights and wrongs (the merits of a case).
4 Theol. good deeds as entitling to a future reward.
--v.tr. (merited, meriting) deserve or be worthy of (reward, punishment, consideration, etc.).

Idiom

make a merit of regard or represent (one's own conduct) as praiseworthy. on its merits with regard only to its intrinsic worth. Order of Merit Brit. an order founded in 1902, for distinguished achievement.

Etymology

ME f. OF merite f. L meritum price, value, = past part. of mereri earn, deserve

THESAURUS

merit

accent, advantage, advantageousness, agreeableness, arete, assets, auspiciousness, award, be deserving, be entitled to, be worthy of, beneficialness, benevolence, benignity, caliber, class, cogency, comeuppance, concern, concernment, consequence, consequentiality, consideration, desert, deserts, deserve, deserving, due, due reward, dues, earn, emphasis, entitle, excellence, excellency, expedience, fairness, favorableness, fineness, first-rateness, good, goodliness, goodness, grace, healthiness, helpfulness, high order, high rank, import, importance, interest, just deserts, justify, kindness, mark, materiality, merits, moment, niceness, note, paramountcy, perfection, pleasantness, precedence, preeminence, primacy, priority, profitableness, quality, rate, recompense, repay, requite, reward, rewardingness, rights, self-importance, significance, skillfulness, soundness, stature, stress, strong point, superiority, supremacy, usefulness, validity, value, virtue, virtuousness, warrant, weight, wholeness, winnings, worth, worthiness

ROGET THESAURUS

merit

Goodness

N goodness, excellence, merit, virtue, value, worth, price, super-excellence, supereminence, superiority, perfection, coup de maitre, masterpiece, chef d'ouvre, prime, flower, cream, elite, pick, A, nonesuch, nonpareil, creme de la creme, flower of the flock, cock of the roost, salt of the earth, champion, prodigy, tidbit, gem, gem of the first water, bijou, precious stone, jewel, pearl, diamond, ruby, brilliant, treasure, good thing, rara avis, one in a thousand, beneficence, good man, harmless, hurtless, unobnoxious, innocuous, innocent, inoffensive, beneficial, valuable, of value, serviceable, advantageous, edifying, profitable, salutary, favorable, propitious fair, good, good as gold, excellent, better, superior, above par, nice, fine, genuine, best, choice, select, picked, elect, recherche, rare, priceless, unparagoned, unparalleled, superlatively, good, bully, crackajack, giltedged, superfine, superexcellent, of the first water, first-rate, first-class, high- wrought, exquisite, very best, crack, prime, tiptop, capital, cardinal, standard, inimitable, admirable, estimable, praiseworthy, pleasing, couleur de rose, precious, of great price, costly, worth its weight in gold, worth a Jew's eye, priceless, invaluable, inestimable, precious as the apple of the eye, tolerable, up to the mark, unexceptionable, unobjectionable, satisfactory, tidy, in good condition, in fair condition, fresh, sound, beneficially, well, Jewels five words long, long may such goodness live!, the luxury of doing good.

Dueness

VB be due, to, be the due, of, have right to, have title to, have claim to, be entitled to, have a claim upon, belong to, deserve, merit, be worthy of, richly deserve, demand, claim, call upon for, come upon for, appeal to for, revendicate, reclaim, exact, insist on, insist upon, challenge, take one's stand, make a point of, require, lay claim to, assert, assume, arrogate, make good, substantiate, vindicate a claim, vindicate a right, fit for, qualify for, make out a case, give a right, confer a right, entitle, authorize, sanctify, legalize, ordain, prescribe, allot, give every one his due, pay one's dues, have one's due, have one's rights, use a right, assert, enforce, put in force, lay under contribution.

Virtue

N virtue, virtuousness, morality, moral rectitude, integrity, nobleness, morals, ethics, cardinal virtues, merit, worth, desert, excellence, credit, self-control, self-denial, well-doing, good actions, good behavior, discharge of duty, fulfillment of duty, performance of duty, well-spent life, innocence, virtuous, good, innocent, meritorious, deserving, worthy, desertful, correct, dutiful, duteous, moral, right, righteous, right- minded, well-intentioned, creditable, laudable, commendable, praiseworthy, above all praise, beyond all praise, excellent, admirable, sterling, pure, noble, whole-souled, exemplary, matchless, peerless, saintly, saint-like, heaven-born, angelic, seraphic, godlike, virtuously, adj, e merito, esse quam videri bonus malebat, Schonheit vergeht Tugend besteht, virtue the greatest of all monarchies, virtus laudatur et alget, virtus vincit invidiam.