merit

n.

1. 1. Superior quality or worth; excellence: a proposal of some merit; an ill-advised plan without merit.
   2. A quality deserving praise or approval; virtue: a store having the merit of being open late.
2. Demonstrated ability or achievement: promotions based on merit alone.
3. An aspect of character or behavior deserving approval or disapproval. Often used in the plural: judging people according to their merits.
4. Christianity. Spiritual credit granted for good works.
5. merits
   1. Law. A party's strict legal rights, excluding jurisdictional, personal, or technical aspects.
   2. The factual content of a matter, apart from emotional, contextual, or formal considerations.

v., -it·ed, -it·ing, -its.

v.tr.

To earn; deserve. See synonyms at earn¹.

v.intr.

To be worthy or deserving: Pupils are rewarded or corrected, as they merit.

[Middle English, from Old French merite, reward or punishment, from Latin meritum, from neuter past participle of merēre, to deserve.]

meritless mer'it·less adj.

noun

1. A level of superiority that is usually high: caliber, quality, stature, value, virtue, worth. See good/bad, value/worthlessness/evaluation.
2. A special feature or quality that confers superiority: beauty, distinction, excellence, perfection, virtue. See good/bad.

verb

To acquire as a result of one's behavior or effort: deserve, earn, gain, get, win. Informal rate¹. See get/lose.

n

Definition: advantage
Antonyms: demerit, disadvantage, fault, weakness

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(Heb. zekhut). A virtue which, in Jewish thought, is attainable through freely choosing to obey God's commandments and performing other good deeds or "acts of lovingkindness" (see Gemilut ḥasadim). The term zekhut is also used in the sense of giving someone the benefit of the doubt: "Judge every man in the scale of merit [i.e., favorably]," the rabbis urged (Avot. 1:6), since "one who judges his fellow man in the scale of merit is likewise judged favorably by others" (Shab. 127b).

Doctrinally, this concept gave birth to the notion of zekhut avot (ancestral virtue or "the merits of one's fathers"), according to which the merit acquired by past generations---including the Patriarchs of Israel---may not only be stored up but can actually benefit their descendants. This explains why "the pious deeds of our ancestors" are so frequently mentioned throughout the Jewish liturgy (in the first paragraph of the Amidah, for example), and why "showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments" in the Decalogue (Ex. 20:6) has been described as Judaism's doctrine of Original Virtue. The "merits of the fathers" are one of the five things that will hasten Israel's Redemption (Midr. Tehillim on Ps. 106:44); by virtue of Abraham's trust in God the Israelites were privileged to sing the Song of the Red Sea, and in time to come they will likewise "sing a new song" to the Lord (Ex. R. 23.6); but ancestral merits are no substitute for religious discipline, they do not outweigh the sin of abandoning the Land of Israel to reside elsewhere, and they can never excuse a person's failure to do good on his own account in this life (Midr. Tehillim on Ps. 146:3; cf. Shab. 55a). However, they can be a source of Altruism and an inspiring example: "All who engage in communal affairs should do so for the sake of heaven; their work will prosper thanks to the merit of predecessors whose good deeds are everlasting" (Avot 2:2). This concept of meritorious living fortified Jewish solidarity, prompted tales of "hidden saints" (e.g., the Lamed Vav Tsaddikim), and led the rabbis to claim that "for the sake of even one righteous man the world would have been created ... and for the sake of only one it will endure" (Yoma 38b). Similarly, through the observance of one precept, "a man can tip the scales in favor of himself and of the entire world" (Kid. 40b).

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A person's merits are his or her admirable qualities. Moral merits usually include such virtues as benevolence, temperance, justice, mercy, etc. Non-moral merits may include cheerfulness, intelligence, strength, musicality, etc. The basis of the distinction is unclear, especially when lack of moral merit is thought to be a fault, whereas lack of non-moral merit merely argues bad luck. In Kant, moral merit shrinks to respect for the duty of governing conduct by the categorical imperative, with everything else a mere handmaiden to this end. At the other end of the scale, in Greek thought, and in Hume, there is no serious distinction between moral and non-moral merit. See also desert, moral luck.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The strict legal rights of the parties to a lawsuit.

The word merits refers to the substance of a legal dispute and not the technicalities that can affect a lawsuit. A judgment on the merits is the final resolution of a particular dispute.

IN BRIEF: To be worthy of. Also: A quality worthy of praise.

It is not a merit to tolerate, but rather a crime to be intolerant. — Percy Shelley (1792-1822)

Quotes:

"'Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it." - Joseph Addison

"Here is a field open for talent; and here, merit will a have certain favor, and industry is graced with its due reward." - Claudius

"We may not always get what we want, but surely we will get what we deserve." - Doug Horton

"An ingenuous mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof." - Walter Savage Landor

"Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"What is merit? The opinion one man entertains of another." - Lord Palmerston

See more famous quotes about Merit

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - fordel, fortrin, fortjeneste
v. tr. - fortjene, gøre sig fortjent til
v. intr. - være værdig til, fortjene
adj. - fortjent

idioms:

• on its merits    ud fra de foreliggende kendsgerninger

Nederlands (Dutch)
verdienen, merite, verdienste, intrinsiek goed en kwaad van gerechtelijke zaak

Français (French)
n. - valeur, mérite
v. tr. - mériter
v. intr. - mériter
adj. - mérité, de mérite, honorifique, d'honneur

idioms:

• on its merits    (juger qn, qch) en considérant ses qualités intrinsèques

Deutsch (German)
v. - verdienen
n. - Verdienst, Vorzug
adj. - verdient, Verdienst-

idioms:

• on its merits    nach jmds. Vorzügen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - αξίζω, προσήκω, εμπρέπω, είμαι επάξιος, μου πρέπει
n. - προσόν, πλεονέκτημα, αξία, αρετή, ικανότητα, ουσία, αντικειμενική υπόσταση
adj. - κατ' εκλογήν

idioms:

• on merit    κατ' αξίαν

Italiano (Italian)
meritare, merito

idioms:

• on merit    al merito

Português (Portuguese)
v. - merecer
n. - mérito (m), recompensa (f), virtude (f)
adj. - merecedor

idioms:

• on merit    por mérito

Русский (Russian)
заслуга, достоинство, заслуживать

idioms:

• on merit    за боевые заслуги

Español (Spanish)
n. - mérito, merecimiento, valor, cualidad
v. tr. - merecer, ser digno de
v. intr. - merecer, ser digno de
adj. - excelencia, por mérito

idioms:

• on its merits    según sus méritos, de acuerdo con sus méritos, basado en el valor intrínseco y méritos de algo

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - förtjäna, vara värd
n. - förtjänst
adj. - förtjänt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
优点, 价值, 功绩, 值得, 应受

idioms:

• on its merits    根据功过评价某人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 優點, 價值, 功績
v. tr. - 值得, 應受
v. intr. - 應受

idioms:

• on its merits    根據功過評價某人

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 장점, 공로, 가치
v. tr. - 공로에 의하여 얻다, 상을 받다
v. intr. - 가치를 보존하다
adj. - 강점의 원인이 되는

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 価値, 長所, 賞すべき事柄, 功罪, 理非, 功績
v. - 値する

idioms:

• on merit    そのものの理非に基づいて

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يستحق, يستاهل (الاسم) حسنه, جدارة, مزيه (صفه) استحقاق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮זכות, ערך, יתרון, מעלה, תהילה, שירות מצוין‬
v. tr. - ‮היה ראוי/זכאי ל-‬
v. intr. - ‮היה ראוי/זכאי ל-‬
adj. - ‮מבוסס על זכות‬

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