▪ I. merit, n.
(ˈmɛrɪt)
Forms: 3–7 merite, 4 meriȝt, 4–5 meryt, 4–6 meryte, 5 merote, -et, -yde, -ytte, merrette, 6 merete, merrit, Sc. mereit, 6–7 meritt(e, 3– merit.
[a. OF. merite (mod.F. mérite), ad. L. merit-um, neut. pa. pple. of merēre, merērī to obtain for one's share, earn as pay, deserve; perh. cogn. w. Gr. µείρεσθαι to receive a share, µέρος share, part.]
† 1. That which is deserved or has been earned, whether good or evil; due reward or punishment.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12890 Ion!.. Hu þat a costes þou was clene, Thoru þi merite was it sene [i.e. through his being allowed to baptize Jesus]. 13.. E. E. Allit. P. B. 613 Ȝyf euer þy mon vpon molde merit disserued. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 277 Heere men may seen how synne hath his merite! a 1400–50 Alexander 5226 With me pas to my praysid modire Þat þou may merote haue & menske & mede for þi werkis. 1484 Caxton Curiall I, Thou..reputest them the more worthy for to haue rewardes and merites. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 156 A deerer merit, not so deepe a maime,..Haue I deserued at your Highnesse hands. a 1598 Rollock Lect. Passion xvii. (1616) 156 Lord, saue us from the merite of sinne. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. v. v, Now murder shall receive his ample merite. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §7 It is but the merits of our unworthy Natures, if wee sleep in darkness until the last Alarum. 1706 Prior Ode to Queen 85 Those laurel groves (the merits of thy youth), Which thou from Mahomet didst greatly gain. |
2. a. The condition or fact of deserving; ‘character with respect to desert of either good or evil’ (T.). Also
pl. in the same sense. Now
rare.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv Pr. vi. 109 (Camb. MS.) Alle men wenen þat they han wel deseruyd it [i.e. sorowful thinges], and þat they ben of wykkede meryte. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 89 So had she rewarde of her merite in the ende. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge Prol. 69 After our meryte we shalbe sure To be rewarded. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, Not waiyng our merites, but pardonyng our offences, through Christe our Lorde. 1580 Sidney Ps. xli. v, Raise me up, that I may once have might, Their meritts to requite. 1594 T. Bedingfield tr. Machiavelli's Florentine Hist. (1595) 222 Either of them with others guiltie of the treason, were rewarded with the paines of their merit. 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 44, I do require them of you so to vse them, As we shall find their merites, and our safety May equally determine. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. iii. (1636) sig. I 7, I set the Death of our Lord Jesus Christ betwixt me and my bad merit. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 253 They must be presented according to the merit of the business, whether good or bad. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 214 In the future state men shall be placed and treated according to their merit. |
b. the merits or, rarely,
† the merit (of a case, question, etc.): chiefly in
Law, the intrinsic ‘rights and wrongs’ of the matter, in contradistinction to extraneous points such as the competence of the tribunal or the like. Hence,
to discuss, judge (a proposal, etc.) on its merits,
i.e. without regard to anything but its intrinsic excellences or defects.
to have the merits (Law): of a party to a suit, to be in the right as to the question in dispute (said
esp. when for technical reasons a favourable decision cannot be given).
| 1569 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 687 The saidis Provest..and Counsale..quha best knew the meritis of the saidis actionis. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 115 He humbly desyred a favourable hearing of the meritts of his cause. 1713 Swift Cadenus & V. 134 Which, if it sped, Wou'd shew the Merits of the Cause Far better, than consulting Laws. 1760 Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 235 It is always the rule, to administer a retaining fee before you enter upon the merits. 1813 Taunton Comm. Pleas Cases III. 170 Inasmuch as the merits were with the Plaintiff..he [the judge] refused to nonsuit him. 1885 Law Times LXXX. 133/1 It did not appear from the affidavits that the defendant had the merits. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/4 It is not easy to ascertain the exact merits of the dispute. 1887 Times (weekly ed.) 17 June 3/2 Men are everywhere examining his policy on its merits. 1898 A. Lang Making Relig. iv. 74 The ‘merits’ of stories of second sight need discussion. |
3. a. The quality of deserving well, or of being entitled to reward or gratitude.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 157 Ȝe naue no more merit In Masse ne In houres Þen Malkyn of hire Maydenhod, þat no Mon desyreþ. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5909 Selling axeth no guerdoning; Here lyth no thank, ne no meryte. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 471 This man was utterly unprofitable,..reioycenge the name of dignite withowte merytte. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xc. 69 Small merit is of synnes for to irke Quhen thow art ald. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ix. 39 For who shall goe about To cosen Fortune, and be honourable Without the stampe of merrit, let none presume To weare an vndeserued dignitie. 1612 Bacon Ess., Marriage, The best works, and of greatest merit for the publike, haue proceeded from the vnmarried or childlesse men. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxvi. (1869) II. 311 His merit was rewarded by the favour of the prince. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Prol. 35 For merit lives from man to man, And not from man, O Lord, to thee. 1881 Contemp. Rev. XL. 646 The principle of promotion by merit. |
b. spec. in
Theology, the quality, in actions or persons, of being entitled to reward from God.
Merit of condignity,
of congruity: see those words.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 160 He biȝet þeos þreo biȝeaten—priuilege of prechur, merit of martirdom, & meidenes mede. c 1315 Shoreham i. 756 Take hys deaþ in þy meende: Naut lyȝt[e]: Þe more þou þenkest so on hys deaþ, Þe more hys þy meryte. c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 33 Do me endite Thy maydens deeth, that wan thurgh hire merite The eterneel lyf. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4380 Þis meracle þus y-do Þorow þe meryde of þis blessud virgyn seynt Ede. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xx. 119 Bi no deede a man hath merit, saue bi a deede which is the seruice and the lawe of God. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 b, Feyth hath no meryte, where naturall reason of it selfe may discerne..y⊇ thynge. 1692 Bp. Patrick Answ. Touchstone 138 It is frivolous to alledg the word Merit, so often used by the Fathers; for they mean no more thereby, but obtaining that which they are said to merit. a 1716 South Serm. (1727) V. x. 387 Merit is an unpardonable Piece of Popery. 1825 Canning Sp. 21 Apr. Sp. (1828) V. 394 The next objection..is, that the Roman Catholics ascribe an overweening merit and efficacy to human actions. 1898 A. G. Mortimer Cath. Faith & Practice ii. xi. 311 Merit..implies a proportion between the work done and the reward given. |
c. Claim to gratitude as the cause of some favourable state of things; the honour or credit of bringing about (something).
| 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 15 Aug., And if there be no breach, I ought to have the merit of it. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xii. (1862) 177 The whole merit of the great change..belongs to the Barons. |
4. a. Claim or title to commendation or esteem, excellence, worth.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 808 But thingis iiij in hem [stalons] is to biholde: fourme and colour, merite and beaute. Ibid. 831 And next hem in merit is dyuers hued: Black bay, & permixt gray, mousdon also, The fomy, spotty hu, and many mo. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine xxv. 93 There was so much of merit in him, That whereas he had continual warres with Lysimachus [etc.],..yet was never ouercome by any of them. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 24 What merit's in that reason which denies The yeelding of her vp? 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 728 To him [Roscommon] the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And ev'ry author's merit but his own. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 178 ¶4 A Woman of Merit. 1713 Swift Cadenus & V. 342 Merit should be chiefly plac'd In Judgment, Knowledge, Wit, and Taste. 1797 Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 41 The dramatic merit..of Livy. 1889 D. Hannay Capt. Marryat 147 It is a child's story of merit—nothing more. |
† b. The condition of being valued or honoured; esteem.
Obs.| 1752 Foote Taste Pref., Wks. 1799 I. 4 A man, who had ever great merit with his friends. |
5. a. Something that entitles to reward or gratitude. Chiefly
pl.;
spec. in
Theology, good works viewed as entitling to reward from God; also, the righteousness and sacrifice (of Christ) as the ground on which God grants forgiveness to sinners.
In the 17th c. sometimes
const. towards (the person obliged);
cf. L.
merita erga aliquem.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 423 Bot merytes of men ben dedis or lyves, þat God of his grace acceptis to mede. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 9 Some for uncunnynge of receyuing of..al suche gostly comfortis mene that they receyue hem by her owne merites. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) II. 73 To bringe the people to Saulvacion By mirrette of thy bitter passion. 1542–5 Brinklow Lament. (1874) 86 Manifestly ye cast Christes meretes asyde. Ibid. 87 For who soeuer will seke..to be made righteouse by the lawe, he is gone quite from Christ, and hys merites profyte hym not. 1662 Bk. Comm. Prayer, Collect 13th Sund. Trin., That we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 290 Thy merit Imputed shall absolve them who renounce Thir own both righteous and unrighteous deeds. 1675 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iv. (1688) 586 The large Extent of the Spanish Empire, his Powerfulness,..his great merits towards the Church of Rome, and his taking Place..before the French King [etc.]. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 57 His merits thus and not his sins confest, He speaks his hopes and leaves to Heav'n the rest. 1885 Cath. Dict. (ed. 3) 495/2 Protestants hold..that a man really has been justified by faith, or, in other words, that the merits of Christ have been imputed to him. 1897 A. G. Mortimer Cath. Faith & Practice i. v. 83 His superabundant merits, which are laid up as a rich treasure for His Church. |
b. In Buddhism (and Jainism), the good actions in one of a person's successive states of existence which help determine his fate in the next;
esp. in
phr. to acquire merit.
| 1832 C. Coleman Mythol. Hindus xiii. 220 Like the Buddhas, they [sc. the Jains] believe that there is a plurality of heavens and hells; that our rewards and punishments in them depend upon our merit or demerit. 1834 Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal III. 383 These attributes appertain to persons subject to mortal births and deaths, of which the series is as little limited as is that scale of cumulative merits to which it expressly refers. 1853 R. S. Hardy Man. Budhism ix. 450 Let him who has the opportunity of acquiring merit, by being born when the precepts of Budha are taught, be careful not to let his privileges pass away without improvement. 1863 E. Schlagintweit Buddhism in T{iacu}bet iv. 25 Emancipation takes place either instantaneously, on account of the merit accumulated in previous existences, or by assiduous attention to the various exercises prescribed. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 433/1 This seed of existence Buddhism finds in ‘Karma’, the sum of merit and demerit. 1901 Kipling Kim xiv. 380 ‘She has acquired merit beyond all others,’ said the lama. ‘For to set a man upon the way to Freedom is half as great as though she had herself found it.’ ‘Umm,’ said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. ‘It may be that I have acquired merit also... At least she did not treat me like a child.’ 1909 W. J. Locke Septimus xv. 225 I've done little enough in the world..! Give me this chance of —the Buddhists call it, ‘acquiring merit’. 1920 ― House of Baltazar iv. 43 ‘A strong man keeps temptation at his elbow in order to defy it.’ ‘In that way, honourable master, is merit acquired.’ 1935 Chambers's Encycl. II. 527/2 According to Buddhist belief, when a man dies he is immediately born again, or appears in a new shape; and that shape may, according to his merit or demerit, be any of the innumerable orders of being composing the Buddhist universe—from a clod to a divinity. 1967 D. T. Kauffman Dict. Relig. Terms 309/2 Buddhism sees merit as the result of selfless love. 1972 ‘E. Peters’ Death to Landlords! xi. 162 The easiest way to peace of mind is to give. It is a fairly cheap way to acquire merit. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VIII. 303/2 Merit making involves dāna (giving, such as offering food and robes to monks or donating a temple or monastery); sīla (the keeping of the moral precepts); and bhāvanā (the practice of meditation). |
6. A commendable quality, an excellence.
| 1700 Dryden Fables Pref. *A b, I soon resolv'd to put their Merits to the Trial, by turning some of the Canterbury Tales into our Language. 1774 Goldsm. Retal. 49 Would you ask for his merits? Alas! he had none. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 185 The other method has the merit of economy. 1897 R. Le Gallienne in Westm. Gaz. 19 May 2/1 Faults first, merits afterwards! Such is our uncomfortable critical habit. |
7. Phr.
to make a merit of: to account or represent (some action of one's own) as meritorious.
† to make merit with: to establish a claim to the gratitude of (a person).
| 1682 Dryden & Lee Duke of Guise iv. iii. (1683) 47 Stay here, and make a merit of your Love. 1691 Dryden K. Arthur ii. 20 You might have made a Merit of your Theft. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 220 It made her a great merit with me, that she kept it [the secret]. 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 271 He makes a merit of having gone farther in his condescensions. 1780 Burke Sp. at Bristol Wks. 1842 I. 261, I might not only secure my acquittal, but make merit with the opposers of the bill. 1832 H. Martineau Homes Abr. vii. 104 He had made a merit of remaining at his work. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. lxxx, He..made a merit of it to himself. |
8. Short for
merit card (see 9,
quot. 1879).
9. attrib. and
Comb., chiefly in recent terms denoting rewards for proficiency in school work, or prizes for skill in some athletic pursuit, as
merit certificate,
merit cup,
merit grant,
merit medal; also
merit-conscious,
merit-like adjs.;
merit-card, in English elementary schools (see
quot.);
merit increase, an increase in pay resulting from
merit rating;
† merit-merchant = merit-monger;
merit money, the money awarded in a merit increase; also
attrib.;
merit rating, the assessment of an employee's ability to do his job; a measurement of this ability; also
attrib.; hence
merit rate;
merit system, the system of giving promotion in the civil service according to the deserts of the candidates (in
U.S. opposed to ‘spoils system’);
† merit-works, ‘good works’ done for the sake of acquiring merit; so
† merit-worker = merit-monger.
| 1879 Rice-Wiggin & Graves Elem. Sch. Manager 105 The ‘*merit-card’ system. Under this system, a cheap coloured ticket..is given..to every scholar who has made the total number of attendances possible in the previous week. When a scholar has gained twelve of these ‘merits’ he receives a prize in exchange for them. |
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 10/1 They refuse to give a *merit-certificate to any child known to be addicted to cigarette-smoking. |
| 1757 Mr. & Mrs. Greville Maxims, Charac. & Refl. 130 A determined *merit-conscious air. |
| 1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 12/2 The 42nd..won the *merit cup in open competition in shooting. |
| 1882 New Educ. Code (ed. J. Russell) 28 No *merit grant is made unless [etc.]. |
| 1952 Federal Register (U.S.) 15 Feb. 1466/1 The type of increase (such as ‘ten percent increase’, ‘*merit or length of service increase’, ‘inter-plant inequity’). 1959 J. H. Taylor Personnel Administration vii. 146 The descending line of authority should have a systematic basis for consideration of merit increases. 1961 R. Likert New Patterns Managem. ii. 15 Motivational forces..are involved in reactions to rating systems linked to merit increases. 1967 H. B. Maynard Handbk. Business Administration xi. x. 109 Generally, merit increases are granted for improved performance. 1973 Daily Tel. 10 Mar. 2/5 The inquiry found considerable support for general changes in salary levels to be clearly distinguished from individual ‘merit’ increases. |
| 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 175 This would seem pharisaical, and *merit-like, if holiness did not relate to the free promise of the covenant of grace. |
| 1902 Daily Chron. 27 Oct. 9/6 Mr. Robert Maxwell, who won the *merit medal last year,..proved successful. |
| 1647 Trapp Comm. 1 Cor. ix. 17 God will cast all such *merit-merchants out of his Temple. |
| 1947 O. de R. Foenander Industr. Regulation Austral. ix. 84 ‘*Merit money’, whether purely voluntary, or under pressure from the Court in profitable industries, had, too, expanded. 1963 Times 11 Feb. 7/2 On the question of ‘merit money’ a spokesman said the title was misleading, and though theoretically such payments were at the discretion of supervisory staff they were not always based on merit and were sometimes virtually automatic. 1964 Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 23/1 (heading) Teachers' merit money urged by Bow Group. 1967 Economist 15 Apr. 278/2 The company's previous merit-money system has proved both unfair and inflationary. |
| 1946 F. H. Johnson et al. Job Evaluation xiii. 264 Experience has shown that *merit rating's principal effect is to control the flow of newer workers as they go up the ladder. 1947 Gilbreth & Cook Foreman in Manpower Managem. xiv. 183 Requests for detailed discussion of the foreman's merit-rating sheet with executives will furnish a series of points of view..which should be invaluable. 1954 Merit Rating (Brit. Inst. Managem.) ii. 6 An employee's merit rating history is invaluable for promotion purposes. 1959 Gloss. Terms Work Study (B.S.I.) 26 Merit rating, the systematic assessment of the behaviour and/or ability of workers in their work... Merit rate, the wage increment for a worker's merit. 1967 Coulthard & Smith in Wills & Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 206 Regrettably, the merit-rating forms usually place the emphasis on personality traits rather than performance... A more limited group have taken the merit-rating report to the next logical stage and set up a system of annual feedback meetings at which the manager and the subordinate carry out a post-mortem on the past year's work. |
| 1880 D. B. Eaton Civ. Service Gt. Brit. 161 The *merit system of appointments and promotions. 1899 Nation (N.Y.) 1 June 414/3 Some of the characteristics of the merit system as exemplified in the consular and diplomatic service of Great Britain. |
| 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. iii. (1636) 109 Workes of Supererogation and *Merit workes. |
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades iii. ix. 467 The name of Merits is..not vsed in the Scriptures. For in that signification wherein our *Merite woorkers vse it, to wit, for meritorious woorkes, [etc.]. |
▪ II. merit, v. (
ˈmɛrɪt)
[a. F. mérite-r, f. mérite merit n. Latin had meritāre (frequentative of merērī) to earn (money), to serve as a soldier.] † 1. trans. To reward, recompense.
Obs. rare.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xix, An almesse that is done for vayne glorye is not merited but dismeryted. c 1500 Melusine xxxvi 264, I thanke you of this lyberall offre to goo with me & I shall meryte you, therfore, yf it playse god. c 1611 Chapman Iliad ix. 258 Which if thou wilt surcease, The king will merite it with gifts. |
2. To be or become entitled to or worthy of (reward, punishment, good or evil fortune or estimation, etc.);
= deserve v. 1 and 2.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 11 b, Who may meryte or deserue Grace beynge in synne? 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 41, I am sure sweet Kate, this kindnesse merites thankes. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. ii. 313 Any that meriteth the name of man. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 456 Extol not Riches then,..more apt To slacken Virtue,..Then prompt her to do aught may merit praise. 1718 Free-thinker No. 8. 54 This presumptuous Wretch highly merited the Sentence pronounced upon him by Law. 1746 W. Horsley Fool (1748) I. 203 To what End, but to merit being robbed again? 1775 Harris Philos. Arrangem. Wks. (1841) 357 Others that less merit, or at least that we esteem less to merit our regard and attention. 1805 tr. Lafontaine's Hermann & Emilia III. 249 God knows how I have merited..that my last days should pass with so much satisfaction. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iii. 85 She only knows How justly to proportion to the fault The punishment it merits. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 132 Good people, you do ill to kneel to me. What is it I can have done to merit this? 1884 Manch. Exam. 14 May 5/2 They would richly merit the severest censure. |
b. with
inf. as
obj. (In early use
occas.:
† To obtain as one's deserts.)
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) H viij b, He merited to lese his life with .xxiii. strokes of penknyues. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 488 Shee was farre from being contemptible, though not merriting to be admired. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1736) I. 114 You merit to be beloved. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 123 He merited..to be trusted. 1805 tr. Lafontaine's Hermann & Emilia III. 123 His wife..who merited to be the intimate friend of Emilia. a 1814 Theodora i. i. in New Brit. Theatre I. 280 Have I not merited to be unhappy? |
c. Said of things.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 291 France is a dog-hole, and it no more merits The tread of a mans foot. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 182 His counsels merited to be followed. 1656 Earl of Monmouth Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxxi. 55 It merits memory, that..Virgil..caused Servius to be bastinadoed by his servant Daretes. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 170 Should he add that the combatants had the dress and appearance of gentlemen, I should think, to use the newspaper phrase, the thing merited confirmation. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 350 My knowledge..being too imperfect to merit a communication. 1792 Gentl. Mag. 9/2 The subject..merits the attention of..discerning minds. |
3. absol. or intr. To be deserving of good or evil. Chiefly in phrase
to merit well (of a person), and in clauses with
as or
than, where there is ellipsis of an infinitive.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. i. 19 When I doe name him, let it be thy part, To praise him more then euer man did merit. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 147 It seemed vnto the Spaniards that they had well merited of the Holy See. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §51 The Earl of Essex who had merited very well throughout the whole Affair..was discharged..without ordinary Ceremony. 1719 Freethinker III. 183 The late Mr. Savery..merited largely from Posterity by the Invention of an Engine. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 120 Those men have merited so well of the republic of letters. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iv. 549 Die! as thy frailties merit; let steel thy sufferings close. |
4. trans. To earn by meritorious action;
spec. in
Theology, to become entitled to (reward) at the hands of God; also, of Christ, to obtain by his merits (spiritual blessings) for mankind.
| 1543 Joye Confut. Winchester's Articles 1 Winchester wold proue that workes muste iustifye, that is to saye, with owr workes we muste merite the remission of owr synnes. 1586 Hooker Disc. Justif. §21 (1612) 27 Did they think that men doe merit rewards in heaven by the workes they performe on earth? 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 153 Christ is..that Lamb of God..quha onelie culd meritt vnto ws remission of sinnes. 1654 Fuller Two Serm. 53 For whom Christ merited Faith, Repentance, and Perseverance. 1674 Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 107 Christ by his death did merit some supernatural things for the wicked. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 465 What Prize may Nisus from your Bounty claim, Who merited the first Rewards? 1748 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 304 By fervent charity he may even merit forgiveness of men. 1898 A. G. Mortimer Cath. Faith & Practice ii. xi. 316 No man..can merit the first grace, or justification, nor, if he fall into mortal sin, can he merit a recovery from that state. Nor can he merit final perseverance. |
5. intr. To acquire merit; to become entitled to reward, gratitude, or commendation.
Obs. exc. Theol.| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 160 b, I meryte not in so sayenge my duty. 1530 Palsgr. 635/1 Some man maye meryte as moche to drinke small wyne as some do whan they drinke water. 1577 Fulke Confut. Purg. 451 Euery man must merite for him selfe. 1648 H. Gresby tr. Balzac's Prince 260 The Mahometans think they merit when they kill strangers. a 1715 Burnet Own Time ii. (1724) I. 147 Scotland, that had merited eminently at the King's hands ever since the year 1648. a 1718 W. Penn Tracts Wks. 1726 I. 481 No Man can merit for another. 1724 Swift Drapier's Humble Addr. Wks. 1751 IX. 80, I..am resolved that none shall merit at my Expence. 1897 A. G. Mortimer Cath. Faith & Practice i. xi. 166 While we are in a state of mortal sin we cannot merit. |