merit

merit · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)mer-“to allot, assign”
2. Latin · derived frommeritum“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”
3. Old French · derived frommerite“moral worth, reward; merit”
4. Anglo-Norman · derived frommerit
5. Middle English · inherited frommerit
6. English todaymerit

From Middle English merit, 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”), from Anglo-Norman merit, merite, Old French merite (“moral worth, reward; merit”) (modern French mérite), from Latin meritum (“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”), neuter of meritus (“deserved, earned, obtained; due, proper, right; deserving, meritorious”), perfect passive participle of mereō (“to deserve, earn, obtain, merit; to earn a living”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot, assign”). The English word is probably cognate with Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”) and cognate with Old Occitan merit.

merit · verb²

1. Old French · derived frommeriter“to deserve, merit”
2. Middle French · derived frommeriter
3. Middle English · inherited frommeriten
4. English todaymerit

From Middle English meriten, from Middle French meriter, Old French meriter (“to deserve, merit”) (modern French mériter), from merite: see further in Etymology 1. The word is cognate with Italian meritare (“to deserve, merit; to be worth; to earn”), Latin meritāre (“to earn regularly; to serve as a soldier”), Spanish meritar (“to deserve, merit; to earn”).

Words from the same roots