See Also: merit(1)(dictionary)
merit(2)(dictionary)
Merit Rating(money)
Order of Merit, the(dictionary)
merit 1, noun(dictionary)
merit 2, verb(dictionary)
MERIT Credit Union(finance)
Technical Merit - Synchro Swimming(gambling)

merit(1) (iou)



merit noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French merite from Latin meritum price, value, service rendered, use as noun of neut. pa. pple of merere, -ri earn, deserve, rel. to Greek meiresthai obtain as a share, moira share, fate, meros part.]
Deserved reward or punishment. ME-E18.
The quality of deserving well or of being entitled to reward or gratitude; claim or title to commendation or esteem; excellence, worth; spec. (a) Christian Theology the quality, in actions or persons, of being entitled to future reward from God; (b) Buddhism & Jainism the quality of actions in one of a person's states of existence which helps determine a better succeeding state. ME.
Order of Merit an order whose members are admitted for distinguished achievement.
C. Achebe I had had scholarships..without any godfather's help but purely on my own merit. C. Milne A single book, one that we feel to have some special merit, not an obvious bestseller but one..deserving our support.
b. Claim to gratitude, the honour or credit of bringing about (something). Foll. by of. Now rare. E18.
sing. & in pl. The condition or fact of deserving, deserts. Now rare. LME.
A. G. Mortimer His superabundant merits, which are laid up as a rich treasure for His Church.
A thing entitling a person to reward or gratitude. Usu. in pl., spec. in Christian Theology, good works viewed as entitling a person to future reward from God. LME.
A point of intrinsic quality; a commendable quality, an excellence, a good point. Earliest in pl., the intrinsic rights and wrongs of a matter, esp. a legal case, the intrinsic excellences or defects of something. M16.
make a merit of account or represent (some action of one's own) as meritorious.
R. K. Narayan Talking about the picture, its merits and demerits. M. N. Cox Each case must be judged on its merits. Observer It at least has the merit of a certain rough honesty.
Comb.: merit good Economics a commodity or service, such as education, that is regarded by society or government as deserving public finance; merit increase an increase in pay for personal ability or achievement; merit money money awarded as a merit increase; merit monger arch. (contempt.) a person who seeks to merit salvation or eternal reward by good works; merit pay pay awarded as a merit increase; merit rating the assessment of an employee's ability to do his or her job; a measurement of this ability; merit system the system of giving (promotion in) public office according to the competence of the candidates rather than because of their political affiliations etc.
meritless adjective L16.