Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗A claim to commendation or a reward. · A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence. · Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward. · The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*(s)mer-",
"id": "allot"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "merit",
"4": "merit"
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"expansion": "Middle English merit"
},
{
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"2": "xno",
"3": "merit"
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"expansion": "Anglo-Norman merit"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "merite",
"4": "",
"5": "moral worth, reward; merit"
},
"expansion": "Old French merite (“moral worth, reward; merit”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "mérite"
},
"expansion": "French mérite"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "meritum",
"4": "",
"5": "that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason"
},
"expansion": "Latin meritum (“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”)"
},
{
"name": "glossary",
"args": {
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"expansion": "neuter"
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{
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"expansion": "perfect"
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"name": "glossary",
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"1": "passive"
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"name": "glossary",
"args": {
"1": "participle"
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"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*(s)mer-",
"4": "",
"5": "to allot, assign"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot, assign”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "μέρος",
"3": "",
"4": "component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pro",
"2": "merit"
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"expansion": "Old Occitan merit"
}
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"links": [
[
"merit",
"merit#Middle_English"
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[
"merite",
"merite#Middle_English"
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[
"merit",
"merit#Old_French"
],
[
"merite",
"merite#Old_French"
],
[
"merite",
"merite#Old_French"
],
[
"mérite",
"mérite#French"
],
[
"meritum",
"meritum#Latin"
],
[
"meritus",
"meritus#Latin"
],
[
"mereō",
"mereo#Latin"
],
[
"*(s)mer-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/(s)mer-"
],
[
"μέρος",
"μέρος#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"merit",
"merit#Old_Occitan"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "メリット",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "meritto"
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A claim to commendation or a reward.",
"A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.",
"Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.",
"The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment."
],
"tags": [
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"uncountable",
"Jainism"
],
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 241067
}
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