MERIT • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Merit

Translators

Dictionaries

Courses

Other

Home

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/mˈɛrət/ Listen

noun

Merit n.

The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert. "Here may men see how sin hath his merit." "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."

Esp. in a good sense: The quality or state of deserving well; worth; excellence. "Reputation is... oft got without merit, and lost without deserving." "To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And every author's merit, but his own."

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."

verb

Merit v. t. (past & past part. merited; pres. part. meriting)

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."

To reward. (R. & Obs.)

Merit v. i. To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit. (Obs.)

See images of 'Merit'

Etymology of 'Merit'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Merit" Quotes from Famous Books

... Providence, what matters the name? Those who quarrel over the word, admit the fact. Such are not those who, speaking of Napoleon or Caesar, say: "He was a man of Providence." They apparently believe that heroes merit the attention which Heaven shows them and that the color of purple attracts gods ...

— The Confession of a Child of The Century • Alfred de Musset

... cup of tea and innumerable small cakes, enjoyed a foxtrot to phonograph music with the rug rolled up out of the way, conversed amicably with the Ancient History Prof himself, who wasn't such a bad sort as Profs go and had the merit of being one of the few instructors who had not flunked Ted Holiday in his course the ...

— Wild Wings - A Romance of Youth • Margaret Rebecca Piper

... was an easy matter where would be the merit? I should not then have chosen you to ...

— The Man-Wolf and Other Tales • Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian

... holes, and bits of ribbon on the shoulders are unnecessary; they throw an apple of discord between the young creatures, who have sense enough to see that these things are frequently given away with a wonderous lack of discrimination, and sometimes to please parents more than reward merit. A carraway comfit put into the mouth of an infant will do more good than all the badges of distinction that I have mentioned, as a reward; but with respect to punishment, more will be said on it in my larger work, when we come to treat of National Education. ...

— The Infant System - For Developing the Intellectual and Moral Powers of all Children, - from One to Seven years of Age • Samuel Wilderspin

... average New York young man in business is successful. Of course, this is measured entirely from the standpoint of income. It is true that a young man may not, in every case, receive the salary his services merit, but, as a general rule, his income is a pretty accurate indication ...

— The Young Man in Business • Edward W. Bok

More quotes...