Hypertext Webster Gateway: "merit"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Merit \Mer"it\, v. i.
To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to
profit. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Merit \Mer"it\, n. [F. m['e]rite, 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}.]
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Merit \Mer"it\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Merited}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Meriting}.] [F. m['e]riter, L. meritare, v. intens. fr.
merere. See {Merit}, n.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
merit
n 1: any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit"
[syn: {virtue}] [ant: {demerit}]
2: the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance);
"there were many children whose deservingness he
recognized and rewarded" [syn: {deservingness}, {meritoriousness}]
v : be worthy of or have a certain rating [syn: {rate}, {deserve}]
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