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merit |
4 definitions found 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 1.6 [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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