Definition of "merit" in Anglais

noun

1. (countable) A claim to commendation or a reward.

2. (countable) A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.

   • For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten merits.

3. (countable, uncountable) Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.

   • His reward for his merit was a check for $50.

4. (uncountable, Buddhism, Jainism) 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.

   • to acquire or make merit

5. (uncountable, law) Usually in the plural form the merits: the substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, a lawsuit, etc., as opposed to technical matters such as the admissibility of evidence or points of legal procedure; (by extension) the overall good or bad quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing.

   • Even though the plaintiff was ordered by the judge to pay some costs for not having followed the correct procedure, she won the case on the merits.

6. (countable, obsolete) The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.

verb

1. (transitive) To deserve, to earn.

   • Her performance merited wild applause.

2. (intransitive) To be deserving or worthy.

   • They were punished as they merited.

3. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To reward.