merit : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: merit	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for merit
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
merit n any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit" Synonym(s): merit, virtue Antonym(s): demerit, fault the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance); "there were many children whose deservingness he recognized and rewarded" Synonym(s): deservingness, merit, meritoriousness v be worthy or deserving; "You deserve a promotion after all the hard work you have done" Synonym(s): deserve, merit
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Merit \Mer"it\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Merited}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Meriting}.] [F. m[82]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. [bd]This kindness merits thanks.[b8] --Shak. 2. To reward. [R. & Obs.] --Chapman.
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[82]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.