View source for merit

{{also|Merit|mèrit|merít|měřit|mērīt}}
==English==
{{was wotd|2019|June|7}}

===Etymology===
{{root|en|ine-pro|*(s)mer-|id=allot}}
The noun is derived from {{inh|en|enm|merit|merit}}, {{m|enm|merite|merite|quality of person’s character or conduct deserving of reward or punishment; such reward or punishment; excellence, worthiness; benefit; right to be rewarded for spiritual service; retribution at doomsday; virtue through which Jesus Christ brings about salvation; virtue possessed by a holy person; power of a pagan deity}},<ref>{{R:MED Online|entry=merī̆t(e|pos=n|id=MED27449|accessdate=12 February 2019}}</ref> from {{der|en|xno|merit}}, {{m|fro|merite}}, {{der|en|fro|merite||moral worth, reward; merit}} (modern {{cog|fr|mérite}}), from {{der|en|la|meritum||that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason}}, {{glossary|neuter}} of {{m|la|meritus||deserved, earned, obtained; due, proper, right; deserving, meritorious}}, {{glossary|perfect}} {{glossary|passive}} {{glossary|participle}} of {{m|la|mereō||to deserve, earn, obtain, merit; to earn a living}}, from {{der|en|ine-pro|*(s)mer-||to allot, assign}}. The English word is probably cognate with {{cog|grc|μέρος||component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot}} and cognate with {{cog|pro|merit}}.<ref>{{R:OED Online|pos=n|id=116794|date=September 2001|nodot=yes}}; {{R:Lexico}}</ref>

The verb is derived from {{der|en|frm|meriter}}, {{der|en|fro|meriter||to deserve, merit}} (modern {{cog|fr|mériter}}), from {{m|fro|merite}}: ''see further above''. The word is cognate with {{cog|it|meritare||to deserve, merit; to be worth; to earn}}, {{cog|la|meritāre||to earn regularly; to serve as a soldier}}, {{cog|es|meritar||to deserve, merit; to earn}}.<ref>{{R:OED Online|pos=v|id=116795|date=September 2001}}</ref>

===Pronunciation===
* {{enPR|mĕrʹĭt|a=RP}}, {{IPA|en|/ˈmɛɹɪt/|/ˈmɛɹət/}}
* {{IPA|en|/ˈmɛɹɪt/|/ˈmɛɹət/|a=GA}}
* {{audio|en|en-us-merit.ogg|a=GA}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɛɹɪt|s=2}}
* {{hyphenation|en|mer|it}}

===Noun===
{{en-noun|~}}

# {{lb|en|countable}} A [[claim#Noun|claim]] to [[commendation]] or a [[reward#Noun|reward]].
#* {{RQ:Shakespeare Othello Q1|act=III|scene=iii|page=36|passage=[R]eputation is an idle and moſt falſe impoſition , oft got without '''merit''' and loſt without deſeruing.}}
# {{lb|en|countable}} A [[mark#Noun|mark]] or [[token]] of [[approbation]] or to [[recognize]] [[excellence]].
#: {{antonyms|en|demerit}}
#: {{ux|en|For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten '''merits'''.}}
#* {{RQ:Prior Poetical Works|volume=I|title=An Ode Humbly Inscrib’d to the Queen|stanza=IX|page=275|passage=Thoſe laurel groves (the '''merits''' of thy youth), / Which thou from [[w:Muhammad|Mahomet]] didſt greatly gain, / While, bold aſſertor of reſiſtleſs truth, / Thy ſword did godlike liberty maintain, / Muſt from thy brow their falling honours ſhed, / And their tranſplanted wreaths muſt deck a worthier head.}}
# {{lb|en|countable|uncountable}} Something [[deserve|deserving]] or [[worthy#Adjective|worthy]] of [[positive#Adjective|positive]] [[recognition]] or reward.
#: {{synonyms|en|excellence|value|worth}}
#: {{antonyms|en|demerit}}
#: {{ux|en|His reward for his '''merit''' was a check for $50.}}
#* {{RQ:Pope Essay on Criticism|page=42|passage=Such was ''Roſcommon''—not more ''learn’d'' than ''good''; / With Manners gen’rous as his Noble Blood; / To him the Wit of ''Greece'' and ''Rome'' was known, / And ev’ry Author’s '''Merit''' but his own.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=[[w:Richard Fuller (minister)|Richard Fuller]]|chapter=Sermon Thirteenth. The Gospel Stifled by Covetousness.|title=Sermons by Richard Fuller,{{nb...|Preached during His Ministry with the Seventh and Eutaw Place Baptist Churches, Baltimore, 1847–1876. Prepared by Himself.}}|series=Second Series|location=Baltimore, Md.|publisher=Published by [[w:John Frederick Weishampel Jr.|John F[rederick] Weishampel, Jr.]]; Philadelphia, Pa.: American Baptist Publication Society; New York, N.Y.: Sheldon and Company|year=1877|page=244|pageurl=https://archive.org/details/sermonsbyrichard01full/page/244/mode/1up|oclc=1084857360|passage=In all our noble Anglo-Saxon language, there is scarcely a nobler word than ''worth''; yet this term has now almost exclusively a pecuniary meaning. So that if you ask what a man is worth, nobody ever thinks of telling you what he ''is'', but what he ''has''. The answer will never refer to his '''merits''', his virtues, but always to his possessions. He is worth—so much money.}}
# {{lb|en|uncountable|Buddhism|Jainism}} The [[sum#Noun|sum]] of all the [[good#Adjective|good]] [[deed#Noun|deeds]] that a person does which [[determine]]s the [[quality]] of the person's next [[state#Noun|state]] of [[existence]] and [[contribute]]s to the person's [[growth]] towards [[enlightenment]].
#: {{ux|en|to acquire or make '''merit'''}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|title=Siamese Merit-making|magazine=The Church Missionary Gleaner|location=London|publisher=Seeley, Jackson and Halliday{{nb...|Fleet Street and Hanover Street, Hanover Square}}|month=October|year=1855|volume=V (New Series)|page=118|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIZFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA118|oclc=1061908554|passage=It is no small tax upon the people to support their [Buddhist] priests, but they do it with a willing heart. When I was once at the old capital, I saw a woman, from her own stock, feed more than fifty priests, who came to her in his turn, and received his portion. [...] If I had asked her why she thus spent so much of her living, her answer would have been, 'To make '''merit'''.'}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Monica Lindberg Falk|chapter=Communication across Boundaries|title=Post-Tsunami Recovery in Thailand: Socio-cultural Responses|series=The Modern Anthropology of Southeast Asia|location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.|publisher=w:Routledge|year=2015|page=90|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=26CQBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|isbn=978-1-138-02357-4|passage=At funerals, acts of sharing religious '''merit''' are central and relatives of the deceased make '''merit''' in order to ensure that the departed family member will have a favourable rebirth.}}
# {{lb|en|uncountable|law}} ''Usually in the plural form'' '''the merits''': the [[substantive#Adjective|substantive]] [[rightness]] or [[wrongness]] of a [[legal]] [[argument]], a [[lawsuit]], etc., as [[oppose]]d to [[technical]] [[matter#Noun|matters]] such as the [[admissibility]] of [[evidence#Noun|evidence]] or [[point#Noun|points]] of [[legal]] [[procedure]]; {{lb|en|by extension}} the [[overall]] [[good#Adjective|good]] or [[bad#Adjective|bad]] quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing.
#: {{ux|en|Even though the plaintiff was ordered by the judge to pay some costs for not having followed the correct procedure, she won the case on the '''merits'''.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=[[w:Mathew Bacon|[Mathew Bacon]]]|chapter=Injunctions|title=A New Abridgment of the Law. By a Gentleman of the Middle Temple|location=in the Savoy [London]|publisher=Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling, (assigns of E. Sayer, Esq;) for Henry Lintot|year=1740|section=section C (How Dissolved)|volume=III|page=177|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ho2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA177|oclc=1103168245|passage=The Plaintiff muſt ſhew Cauſe either on the '''Merits''', or upon filing Exceptions; if upon the '''Merits''', the Court may put what Terms they pleaſe on him; as bringing in the Money, or paying it to the Parties, ſubject to the Order of the Court, [...]}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Karel Wellens|chapter=Failed Post-adjudicative Negotiations and Returning to the Court|title=Negotiations in the Case Law of the International Court of Justice: A Functional Analysis|location=Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, Vt.|publisher=w:Ashgate Publishing|year=2014|section=part III (Negotiations during the Post-adjudicative Phase)|page=311|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCoXBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA311|isbn=978-1-4094-1045-4|passage=[I]n most cases once the Court has performed its judicial function&nbsp;– as it had been determined by the parties through their Application or Special Agreement and their submissions&nbsp;– and has rendered its judgment on the '''merits''' of the case, a new phrase of functional interaction commences.}}
# {{lb|en|countable|obsolete}} The quality or state of deserving [[retribution]], whether reward or [[punishment]].
#* {{RQ:Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra|act=V|scene=ii|page=366|column=2|passage=Be it known, that we the greateſt are mis-thoght / For things that others do : and when we fall, / We anſwer others '''merits''', in our name / Are therefore to be pittied.}}

====Derived terms====
{{col4|en|[[badge of merit]] {{qualifier|obsolete}}, [[merit badge]]|demerit|figure of merit|immerit|immeritorious|immeritoriously|meritable|merit badger|[[merit badging]], [[merit-badging]]|merit field|merit good|meritless|[[meritmonger]] {{qualifier|obsolete}}|meritorious|meritoriously|meritoriousness|meritous|meritocracy|meritocrat|meritocratic|meritocratically|[[meritory]] {{qualifier|obsolete}}|overmerit|unmeritocratic|unmeritorious|merit-based}}

====Related terms====
{{col4|en|meretricious|meretriciously|meretriciousness|[[promerit]] {{qualifier|obsolete}}}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|claim to commendation or a reward}}
* Arabic: {{t|ar|جَدَارَة|f}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|заслуга|f}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|mèrit|m}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|功勞|tr=gōng láo}}, {{t+|cmn|功績|tr=gōngjì}}
* Danish: {{t|da|fordel|c}}
* Dutch: {{t+|nl|verdienste|f}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|ansio}}
* French: {{t+|fr|mérite|m}}
* Friulian: {{t|fur|mert|m}}
* German: {{t+|de|Verdienst|n}}
* Hindi: {{t|hi|क़द्र|f}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|merito|m}}
* Japanese: {{t+|ja|価値|tr=かち, kachi|sc=Jpan}}
* Korean: {{t+|ko|장점}}
* Ladin: {{t|lld|merit|m}}
* Latin: {{t|la|meritum|n}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|за́слуга|f}}
* Malayalam: {{t+|ml|യോഗ്യത}}, {{t+|ml|അർഹത}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|zaleta|f}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|mérito|m}}
* Romanian: {{t+|ro|merit|n}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|заслу́га|f}}, {{t+|ru|достоинство|n}}
* Serbo-Croatian: {{t+|sh|zasluga|f}}
* Sicilian: {{t+|scn|mèritu|m}}, {{t+|scn|mèrutu|m}}
* Slovene: {{t|sl|odlika|f}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|mérito|m}}
* Swedish: {{t+|sv|förtjänst|c}}
* Turkish: {{t+|tr|liyakat}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence}}
* Serbo-Croatian: {{t|sh|oznaka kvalitete|f}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|качество|n}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|mèrit|m}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t-needed|cmn}}
* Czech: {{t+|cs|zásluha|f}}
* Dutch: {{t+|nl|verdienste|f}}
* Esperanto: {{t|eo|merito}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|saavutus}}, {{t+|fi|ansio}}, {{t|fi|[[hyvä]] [[työ]]}}
* French: {{t+|fr|mérite}}
* Hindi: {{t+|hi|गुण|m}}, {{t|hi|क़द्र|f}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|merito|m}}, {{t|it|merto|m}} {{qualifier|poetic}}
* Ladin: {{t|lld|merit|m}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|за́слуга|f}}, {{t|mk|вре́дност|f}}
* Malayalam: {{t+|ml|ഗുണം}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|zasługa|f}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|mérito|m}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|заслуга|f}}
* Sanskrit: {{t+|sa|गुण|m}}
* Serbo-Croatian: {{t+|sh|zasluga|f}}
* Slovene: {{t|sl|zasluga|f}}, {{t+|sl|vrednost|f}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|mérito|m}}, {{t+|es|merecimiento|m}}
* Swedish: {{t+|sv|förtjänst|c}}
* Turkish: {{t+|tr|liyakat}}
* Ukrainian: {{t|uk|заслу́га|f}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|(''Buddhism'', ''Jainism'') sum of all the good deeds that a person does}}
* Burmese: {{t+|my|ကုသိုလ်}}, {{t+|my|ပုည}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|福德|tr=fúdé}}
* Hindi: {{t+|hi|पुण्य|m}}
* Khmer: {{t+|km|បុណ្យ}}
* Korean: {{t|ko|공덕(功德)}}
* Lao: {{t|lo|ບຸນ}}
* Lü: {{t|khb|ᦢᦳᧃ}}
* Mongolian: {{t+|mn|буян}}
* Northern Thai: {{t-needed|nod}}
* Pali: {{t|pi|puñña}}
* Russian: {{t|ru|пу́нья|f}}
* Sanskrit: {{t+|sa|पुण्य|n}}
* Telugu: {{t+|te|పుణ్యము}}
* Thai: {{t+|th|บุญ}}
* Tibetan: {{t|bo|བསོད་ནམས}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|(''law'') substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, etc.}}
{{trans-bottom}}

===Verb===
{{en-verb}}

# {{lb|en|transitive}} To [[deserve]], to [[earn]].
#: {{ux|en|Her performance '''merited''' wild applause.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|title=Art. I.—''Voyages en Italie, &c. Travels in Italy and Sicily, Made in 1801 and 1802.'' By M. Creuzé de Lesser, Member of the Legislative Body. 8vo. Paris. 1806. Imported by De Conchy. [book review]|newspaper=[[w:The Critical Review|The Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature]]|series=Series the Third|location=London|publisher=Printed for J. Mawman,{{nb...|22, Poultry}}; and sold by J. Deighton,{{nb...|Cambridge}}; Hanwell and Parker, and J. Cooke,{{nb...|Oxford.}}|year=1806|volume=IX (Appendix)|issue=V|page=465|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=kj4FAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA465|oclc=1065758738|passage=Oh! France! charming country! where I had the good fortune to be born! one never quits thee with impunity. Celebrated for the rich beauty of thy soil, for the sociability of thy inhabitants, for all the comforts of civilized life, thou '''meritest''' thy reputation, and nothing is so rare.}}
#* {{RQ:Dante Cary Vision|volume=II|canto=V|page=19|lines=19–21|passage=What other could I answer save "I come"? / I said it, somewhat with that colour ting'd / Which oftimes pardon '''meriteth''' for man.}}
#* {{RQ:Churchill Celebrity|page=78|chapter=V|passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it '''merited'''.}}
#* {{RQ:Rushdie Fury|pages=5|passage=Sudden anger rose in him. “What I’m looking for,” he barked, “is to be left in peace.” His voice trembled with a rage far bigger than her intrusion '''merited''', the rage which shocked him whenever it coursed through his nervous system, like a flood.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Hanoch Sheinman|chapter=Tort Law and Distributive Justice|editor=John Oberdiek|title=Philosophical Foundations of the Law of Torts|location=Oxford|publisher=w:Oxford University Press|year=2014|section=part III (The Aristotelian Distinction)|page=361|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iyj-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA361|isbn=978-0-19-870138-5|passage=Take the principle that requires distribution of help in accord with need. It would certainly support allocating some help to its only potential recipient, provided she is in need. And on the plausible assumption that the more '''meriting''' of some good one is the more good one '''merits''', the principle would support allocating more of the help to her the greater her needs.}}
# {{lb|en|intransitive}} To be [[deserving#Adjective|deserving]] or [[worthy#Adjective|worthy]].
#: {{ux|en|They were punished as they '''merited'''.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=w:Thomas More|title=The Cōfutacyon of [[w:William Tyndale|Tyndales]] Answere{{nb...|Made by Syr Thomas More Knyght Lorde Chaūcellour of Englonde}}|location=prentyd at London|publisher=By [[w:William Rastell|Wyllyam Rastell]]|year=1532|page=cclxxiiii|pageurl=http://tei.it.ox.ac.uk/tcp/Texts-HTML/free/A07/A07693.html|oclc=11636675|passage=[A]nd yet he bode them do yt, and they were bounde to obaye and '''meryted''' and deserued by theyr obedyēce.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=w:Thomas of Jesus|chapter=Suffering of Christ. [Contemplation on Christ Carrying His Cross.]|title=The Sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Written Originally in Portuguese [...] Newly and Faithfully Translated into English. In Three Volumes|location=London|publisher=Printed for J. Marmaduke|year=1753|volume=III|section=paragraph VIII|page=209|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHNbAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA209|oclc=1103171114|passage=There is none but thee, O ſon of the living God! O faithful friend of our ſouls! that willingly beareſt the croſs for others. All that thou '''meriteſt''' by thy croſs, thou '''meriteſt''' for us; and thou deſireſt no our recompence for it than our profit.}}
# {{lb|en|transitive|obsolete|rare}} To [[reward#Verb|reward]].
#* {{RQ:Homer Chapman Iliads|year=1843|book=IX|page=203|passage=Thus charg’d thy sire, which thou forgett’st: yet now those thoughts appease / That torture thy great spirit with wrath; which if thou wilt give surcease, / The king will '''merit''' it with gifts ; and if thou wilt give ear / I’ll tell you how much he offers thee:—yet thou sitt’st angry here.}}

====Conjugation====
{{en-conj-simple|old=1}}

====Derived terms====
{{der4|en|[[merited]] {{qualifier|adjective}}|meritedly|meriter|[[premerit]] {{qualifier|obsolete}}|unmeriting}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top-also|to deserve, earn|deserve|earn}}
* Arabic:
*: Egyptian Arabic: {{t|arz|استحق|tr=istaḥaʔʔ}}, {{t|arz|اِسْتاهَل|tr=istaahaal|sc=Arab}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|merèixer}}
* Esperanto: {{t|eo|meriti}}
* French: {{t+|fr|mériter}}
*: Middle French: {{t|frm|meriter}}
*: Old French: {{t|fro|meriter}}
* Friulian: {{t|fur|mertâ}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|meritare}}
* Latin: {{t|la|ēmereō}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|за́служи}}
* Malayalam: {{t+|ml|അർഹിക്കുക}}
* Norman: {{t|nrf|méthiter}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|заслу́живать|impf}}, {{t+|ru|заслужи́ть|pf}}
* Sanskrit: {{t+|sa|अर्हति}}
* Serbo-Croatian: {{t+|sh|zaslužiti}}, {{t+|sh|zavrijediti}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|meritar}}
* Venetan: {{t|vec|meritar}}
{{trans-bottom}}

{{trans-top|to be deserving or worthy}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|заслужавам}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|merèixer}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|meritare}}
* Macedonian: {{t|mk|за́служи}}
* Malayalam: {{t+|ml|അർഹിക്കുക}}
* Sanskrit: {{t+|sa|अर्हति}}
* Venetan: {{t|vec|meritar}}
{{trans-bottom}}

===References===
<references />

===Further reading===
* {{pedia|merit (Buddhism)}}
* {{pedia|merit (Catholicism)}}
* {{pedia|merit|merit (disambiguation)}}
* {{R:Century 1911}}
* {{R:Webster 1913}}
* {{R:OneLook}}

===Anagrams===
* {{anagrams|en|a=eimrt|Terim|ermit|miter|mitre|remit|timer}}

==Ladin==

===Etymology===
From {{inh|lld|la|meritum}}.

===Pronunciation===
{{rfp|lld}}

===Noun===
{{lld-noun|m|meric}}

# [[#English|merit]]

==Romanian==

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|ro|[ˈmerit]}}

===Etymology 1===
{{bor+|ro|fr|mérite}}.

====Noun====
{{ro-noun|n|merite}}

# {{l|en|merit}}

=====Declension=====
{{ro-noun-n}}

====Further reading====
* {{R:DEX}}

===Etymology 2===

====Verb====
{{head|ro|verb form}}

# {{verb form of|ro|merita||1s|pres|ind//sub}}

==Swedish==

===Noun===
{{sv-noun|c}}

# a thing that counts to someone's {{l|en|merit}} (especially in the context of qualifying for a job, position, or the like), (in that context) a [[qualification]], "a" [[credential]]
#: {{ux|sv|Vilka '''meriter''' krävs?|What '''qualifications''' are required?}}
#: {{ux|sv|Tidigare erfarenhet med att arbeta i kök är en '''merit'''|Previous experience working in a kitchen is an '''advantage''' (in the context of a job ad or the like)}}

====Usage notes====
English ''merit'' can partly be considered a [[false friend]]. Always thought of as countable in Swedish.

====Declension====
{{sv-infl-noun-c-er}}

====Derived terms====
* {{l|sv|meritera}}

===References===
* {{R:svenska.se|so}}
* {{R:svenska.se|saol}}
* {{R:svenska.se|saob}}