the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > merit > [adjective] > of actions (3)
Of actions: serving to earn reward; acquiring merit for the agent; = meritorious, adj. 1. Also: possessing merit, deserving, praiseworthy.
Of an action: entitling a person to reward. Now chiefly (Theology): (of good works, a penance, etc.) entitling a person to reward from God; that…
Of a life: meritoriously conducted or lived. Obsolete.