Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Superior quality or worth; excellence.
- noun A quality deserving praise or approval; virtue.
- noun Demonstrated ability or achievement.
- noun An aspect of character or behavior deserving approval or disapproval.
- noun In various religions, spiritual credit granted for good works.
- noun Law The factors to be considered in making a substantive decision in a case, independent of procedural or technical aspects.
- noun The factual content of a matter, apart from emotional, contextual, or formal considerations.
- intransitive verb To earn; deserve. synonym: earn.
- intransitive verb To be worthy or deserving.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To deserve; earn a right or incur a liability to; be or become deserving of: as, to
merit reward or punishment. - To deserve as a reward; earn by commendable action or conduct.
- To reward.
- Synonyms and See
desert , n. - To acquire merit, benefit, or profit.
- noun That which is deserved; honor or reward due; recompense or consideration deserved.
- noun The state or fact of deserving; desert, good or bad; intrinsic ground of consideration or award: most commonly in the plural: as, to treat a person according to his merits.
- noun Specifically The state or fact of deserving well; good desert; worthiness of reward or consideration.
- noun Good quality in general; excellence.
- noun That which deserves consideration or reward; ground of desert; claim to notice or commendation: as, to enumerate the merits of a person, a book, or a scheme.
- noun plural In law, the right and wrong of a ease; the strict legal or equitable rights of the parties, as distinguished from questions of procedure and matters resting in judicial discretion or favor; essential facts and principles that lead to an opinion clear of personal bias: as, to judge a case on its merits.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert.
- noun The quality or state of deserving well; worth; excellence.
- noun Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or approbation.
- transitive verb To earn by service or performance; to have a right to claim as reward; to deserve; sometimes, to deserve in a bad sense.
- transitive verb R. & Obs. To reward.
- intransitive verb obsolete To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Something deserving good recognition.
- noun Something
worthy of a high rating. - noun A claim to
commendation or reward. - noun The quality of
deserving reward . - verb transitive To
earn or todeserve . - verb intransitive To be
worthy ordeserving .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance)
- noun any admirable quality or attribute
- verb be worthy or deserving
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term merit is often applied to Christ's passive obedience as well as to his active.
Reformation Theology John 2010
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Pope Gregory XVI (1832) instituted two medals which he called merit-medals to reward civil and military daring and courage.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913
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The association represents what it calls merit-shop contractors, which include both union and non-union businesses.
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These same MBA and HR-types will argue that merit is also the way to manage the herd and weed out poor performers.
e pluribus unum 2010
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These same MBA and HR-types will argue that merit is also the way to manage the herd and weed out poor performers.
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Granting Salvation to some and denying it to others regardless of merit is unjust.
Augustine vs. Pelagius Part Two - Grace, Salvation, and Redemption | Heretical Ideas Magazine 2009
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Skewed outcomes indicate skewed opportunity, unless we want to theorize that the US has higher variance in merit or luck than other countries (most of OECD) where the outcomes are less skewed.
Think Progress » As Democrats Get Tough On Financial Reform, Republicans Court Big Banks 2010
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These same MBA and HR-types will argue that merit is also the way to manage the herd and weed out poor performers.
Management 2010
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Unless You can demonstrate how different the assembly lines of Benz, VW, Renault and GM were in merit to your point. jack lecou Says:
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These same MBA and HR-types will argue that merit is also the way to manage the herd and weed out poor performers.
e pluribus unum 2010
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