Definition: merit

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

merit
     n 1: any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit"
          [syn: virtue] [ant: demerit]
     2: the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance);
        "there were many children whose deservingness he
        recognized and rewarded" [syn: deservingness, meritoriousness]
     v : be worthy of or have a certain rating [syn: rate, deserve]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Merit \Mer"it\, v. i.
   To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to
   profit. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
Merit \Mer"it\, n. [F. m['e]rite, L. meritum, fr. merere,
   mereri, to deserve, merit; prob. originally, to get a share;
   akin to Gr. ? part, ? fate, doom, ? to receive as one's
   portion. Cf. Market, Merchant, Mercer, Mercy.]
   1. The quality or state of deserving well or ill; desert.

            Here may men see how sin hath his merit. --Chaucer.

            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.    --Shak.

   2. Esp. in a good sense: The quality or state of deserving
      well; worth; excellence.

            Reputation is . . . oft got without merit, and lost
            without deserving.                    --Shak.

            To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And
            every author's merit, but his own.    --Pope.

   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.
                                                  --Prior.
Merit \Mer"it\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Merited; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Meriting.] [F. m['e]riter, L. meritare, v. intens. fr.
   merere. See Merit, n.]
   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. ``This kindness merits
      thanks.'' --Shak.

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