Merit

n.	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.	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.
v. t.	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. [imp. & p. p. Merited; p. pr. & vb. n. Meriting.]
	2.	To reward.
v. i.	1.	To acquire desert; to gain value; to receive benefit; to profit.

Noun	1.	merit - any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit" Synonyms: virtue Antonyms: demerit, fault - the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection; "they discussed the merits and demerits of her novel"; "he knew his own faults much better than she did"
	2.	merit - the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance); "there were many children whose deservingness he recognized and rewarded" Synonyms: deservingness, meritoriousness
Verb	1.	merit - be worthy or deserving; "You deserve a promotion after all the hard work you have done" Synonyms: deserve

accent, advantage, advantageousness, agreeableness, arete, assets, auspiciousness, award, be deserving, be entitled to, be worthy of, beneficialness, benevolence, benignity, caliber, class, cogency, comeuppance, concern, concernment, consequence, consequentiality, consideration, desert, deserts, deserving, due, due reward, dues, emphasis, entitle, excellency, expedience, fairness, favorableness, fineness, first-rateness, good, goodliness, grace, healthiness, helpfulness, high order, high rank, import, importance, interest, just deserts, justify, kindness, mark, materiality, merits, moment, niceness, note, paramountcy, perfection, pleasantness, precedence, preeminence, primacy, priority, profitableness, rate, recompense, repay, requite, reward, rewardingness, rights, self-importance, significance, skillfulness, soundness, stature, stress, strong point, superiority, supremacy, usefulness, validity, virtuousness, warrant, weight, wholeness, winnings, worth

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