Merit /(?)/

1. 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.

2. 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.

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.

imp. & p. p. Merited; p. pr. & vb. n. Meriting

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.
2. To reward. [R. & Obs.]

1. To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit. [Obs.]