merit1 nounmerit2 verb
meritmer‧it1 /ˈmerɪt/ ●●○ noun 
WORD ORIGINmerit1
Origin:
1100-1200 Old French merite, from Latin meritum, from merere ‘to deserve, earn’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a merit scholarship
- The merits of the new health programme are gradually being recognized.
- The committee is still considering the merits of the new proposals.
- At the same time, some of the misconduct charges appear to have merit, according to officials.
- However the merit of Fei's book lies in its functionalist style.
- I think it will have some merit.
- There is obvious merit in good insulation, using only the most efficient kitchen appliances, heating systems and such.
- This involves identifying and describing all buildings of architectural merit and all objects of artistic, historic, literary and documentary value.
- This was a vigorous defense of the bill and not without merit.
- When he failed to promote any women into his first cabinet he insisted he would only appoint on merit.
THESAURUS
a good feature that something has, which makes it better, more useful etc than other things: · The great advantage of digital cameras is that there is no film to process.
a feature of something that has a good effect on people’s lives: · Regular exercise has many benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease.
a good feature that something has, which you consider when you are deciding whether it is the best choice: · The committee will consider the merits of the proposals.· The merits and demerits of (=the good and bad features of)alternative funding systems were widely discussed in the newspapers.· The chairman saw no great merit in this suggestion (=he did not think that it was a good idea).
an advantage that makes you believe that something is a good thing: · They believed in the virtues of culture, civilization, and reason.· He’s always extolling the virtues of hard work (=saying that hard work is a good thing).
especially spoken used when mentioning a good feature of something. This phrase is rather informal and you should not use it in formal essays: · The good thing about cycling is that you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in a traffic jam.
used when you want to emphasize that something has a very good or useful feature: · The beauty of the plan is that it is so simple.
Longman Language Activatora good feature of something a good feature of something, for example a way in which it is useful or better than other things of the same kind: · There are different ways of saving money for retirement, but this one has several advantages.advantage of: · The advantage of walking to work is that I get some exercise.big advantage: · One of the big advantages of the course is that it helps students develop their writing skills in English.
spoken use this when you are talking about one of the main advantages of something: · The good thing about this job is that I can work at home whenever I want.
a feature of something that has a good effect on people's lives: · Tourism has brought many benefits to the area.benefit of: · the benefits of a healthy lifestyle· What are the benefits for Britain of belonging to the European Union?
one of the good characteristics of something such as a plan, system, or way of doing something: · The merits of the new health programme are gradually being recognized.· The committee is still considering the merits of the new proposals.
an additional quality that helps to make something more useful, valuable, or attractive than other things of the same type: be a plus: · The hotel's closeness to the beach is definitely a plus.plus point British: · The plus point of this area is its school system, which is considered one of the best in the city.
a particularly good quality that makes something especially useful, suitable, or likely to be successful: that's the beauty of it spoken: · Our new generator runs entirely on recycled fuel. That's the beauty of it.the beauty of something is that: · The beauty of the plan is that it only requires a small investment.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meanings 1 & 2verbs
The merits and demerits (=the good and bad qualities) of this argument have been explored. a politician preaching the virtues of a free marketCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
1[countable] an advantage or good feature of somethingmerit of· Both suggestions had some merit.
(=discuss whether or not something is a good idea)· They were discussing the merits of sending soldiers to the area.
(=think about whether or not something is a good idea)· The committee is considering the merits of the proposal.
(=to decide what is good about something using careful methods)· Has any study assessed the merits of the two schools?
(=not be sure if something is a good idea)· People began to question the merits of nuclear energy.
(=think that something is not a good idea)· I can see no merit in violence.
(=have some good qualities)· Each idea has its merits.
adjectives (=the qualities that make something good as a piece of art)· What are the artistic merits of this statue?
(=the qualities that make something good as a book, play, or poem)· There was no literary merit in his poems.
· It seems to me that the idea has great merit.
(=very great merit)· The prize is given to students of outstanding merit.
(=a lot of merit)· There is considerable merit in using this kind of approach.
(=the good qualities of something as compared to something else)· She is an expert in the relative merits of spa waters.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (also be worthy of consideration)· He made a number of proposals that deserve consideration.
The merits and demerits (=the good and bad qualities) of this argument have been explored. (=according to what you see when you look at it, rather than what people tell you)· The arguments should be judged on their merits.
· The village was large enough to merit a mention in the 11th century Domesday Book.
a politician preaching the virtues of a free market· But Sophie Ryder is a sculptor who finds artistic merit in the more mundane aspects of rural life.· Membership of East Berlin's Akademie depended on government approval more than on artistic merit.· Does An exact copy of a Michelangelo statue lose artistic merit because it doesn't have his name on it.· The fifty-year-old display area is now to be replaced with a new space of suitably high artistic merit.
· He has very great merit in many respects.· His great merit is to have turned stale images into a historically new subject.· Harry's great merit was that, once he had been given the ball, he was a speedy and direct raider.· The great merit of our constitutional arrangements is that they have developed cautiously and case by case.· As a suggestion for a hermeneutic notion of social structure, it seems to us to have great merit.
· Obviously, there is no literary merit in such rhymes.· For most novels of literary merit, neither the dualist nor the monist doctrine will be entirely satisfactory.
NOUN· They work hard to earn their merit pins and merit badges.
· They fear that such schemes could lead to disciplinary action against sub-standard teachers and to the beginnings of a merit pay system.· In part for this reason, in part because several public employees unions opposed any merit pay, Congress yawned.· In the civil service merit pay has been extended to cover all grades from April 1990.· But merit pay for schools is another matter.· Some administrators even used them to award merit pay to teachers.· You may also be able to refer back to a recent rise in merit pay or bonus in your response.
VERB· In the United States the nomination can be highly political, rather than based on legal merit.· Promotions were to be based on merit rather than on personalities.· Members of the upper strata in a meritocracy deserve their position; their privileges are based on merit.· Principals are now hired and fired based on merit rather than seniority.· Communities based on merit and passion are rare, and people who have been in them never forget them.
· But consider merit, the Order of Merit.· It's never enough to look back on any one piece of work and consider its merit.· Applications from persons who hold qualifications not included in this list will be considered on their merit.· Smaller groups of more than 30 competitors will be considered on their merit.
· But Sophie Ryder is a sculptor who finds artistic merit in the more mundane aspects of rural life.· None has gone anywhere, though investigators sometimes found merit to the charges.· Company officials said the allegations already have been examined by independent groups and found to be without merit.
· Scriven has charged evaluators with the responsibility for judging the merit of an educational practice.· Underlying their arguments is the idea that everyone should be judged on merit.· How, I wondered, was I going to find some one to judge the merit of this work objectively?· Your ideas will be judged for their merit, rather than in deference to your position.· The extent of government involvement in such projects should be judged on individual merit, he said.· The application will not be judged on merit.
The film has the merit of being short. The merit of the report is its realistic assessment of the changes required. The great merit of the project is its flexibility and low cost. Each of these approaches to teaching has its merits. Tonight’s meeting will weigh up the relative merits of the two candidates.► see thesaurus at advantageRegisterMerit is used especially in formal contexts. In everyday English, people usually talk about the good points of something:· The book does have its good points.2[uncountable] formal a good quality that makes someone or something deserve praise: There is never any merit in being second best.have (some) merit/be of merit (=be good) The suggestion has some merit.on merit Students are selected solely on merit (=because they are good).artistic/literary merit a film lacking any artistic merit3judge/consider etc something on its (own) merits to judge something only on what you see when you look at it rather than on what you know from other people or things: It’s important to judge each case on its merits.COLLOCATIONS– Meanings 1 & 2verbshave merit· Both suggestions had some merit.discuss/debate the merits of something (=discuss whether or not something is a good idea)· They were discussing the merits of sending soldiers to the area.consider/judge the merits of something (=think about whether or not something is a good idea)· The committee is considering the merits of the proposal.assess/evaluate the merits of something (=to decide what is good about something using careful methods)· Has any study assessed the merits of the two schools?question the merits of something (=not be sure if something is a good idea)· People began to question the merits of nuclear energy.see little/no merit in something (=think that something is not a good idea)· I can see no merit in violence.have its merits (=have some good qualities)· Each idea has its merits.adjectivesartistic merit (=the qualities that make something good as a piece of art)· What are the artistic merits of this statue?literary merit (=the qualities that make something good as a book, play, or poem)· There was no literary merit in his poems.great merit· It seems to me that the idea has great merit.outstanding merit (=very great merit)· The prize is given to students of outstanding merit.considerable merit (=a lot of merit)· There is considerable merit in using this kind of approach.the relative/comparative merits of something (=the good qualities of something as compared to something else)· She is an expert in the relative merits of spa waters.merit1 nounmerit2 verb
meritmerit2 ●○○ verb [transitive] formal VERB TABLE
merit
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | merit |
| he, she, it | merits | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | merited |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have merited |
| he, she, it | has merited | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had merited |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will merit |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have merited |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- The committee will decide whether the case merits more serious attention.
- At the outset two points merit emphasis.
- Finally, one issue merits more detailed comment because of its implications for the entire Docklands community - housing.
- Her business has become so famous that she felt its success story merited a corner display in her new museum.
- It is beyond me how it came To merit such enormous fame.
- Puisieulx Puisieulx is the smallest of the grand cru villages and certainly does not merit its exalted status.
- Reality: Under new state guidelines, her situation rarely would merit an investigation.
- The subject has an importance in the history of war at this period which merits emphasis.
Longman Language Activatorto deserve attention
if a suggestion, idea, or plan deserves or merits consideration, attention etc, it is good enough to be considered or examined in more detail: · Neal's book explores some interesting ideas which deserve attention.· This is a complex problem, that deserves closer consideration.· It's an interesting idea and it certainly merits another look.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The merits and demerits (=the good and bad qualities) of this argument have been explored. a politician preaching the virtues of a free marketCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
to be good, important, or serious enough for praise or attention SYN deserve: (also be worthy of consideration)· He made a number of proposals that deserve consideration.
The merits and demerits (=the good and bad qualities) of this argument have been explored. (=according to what you see when you look at it, rather than what people tell you)· The arguments should be judged on their merits.
· The village was large enough to merit a mention in the 11th century Domesday Book.
a politician preaching the virtues of a free market· In the context of the right or the freedom to protest it merits special attention.· The tricentennial of his death merited more attention than it received here.· The Freemantles' religious and political opinions also merit some attention.· The other contents of the church at Rennes merit no less attention.· Academic courses raise a number of important curricular issues, but there are four which merit particular attention.· This apparently simplistic and attractive technique which has been readily espoused by many workers merits further attention.· The garden buildings nevertheless merit attention.
· Nevertheless, the story merits further consideration, as other evidence can be connected with it.· Notice that many such questions merit consideration when you attempt to operationalize a major political variable.· First, number concepts are fundamental to success in work with number and thus merit consideration.· This, too, was a hard decision because Gary Stevens merited prime consideration.· The make-up of any one particular group merits some consideration.· I think he should merit consideration.· If walking is one of your priorities when choosing a holiday, then this area definitely merits consideration.
· Environmental considerations and costs do not even seem to merit a mention.· It would hardly merit a mention except for the presence in the market of one incredible wine.· The headlines were smaller this time and Bayly's religion didn't merit a mention in the Press.· Integrity, validity and reliability merited one mention each and objectivity got two.
The results have been encouraging enough to merit further investigation. It’s a fascinating book which merits attention.GRAMMAR: Using the progressiveMerit is not used in the progressive. You say: · This suggestion merits serious consideration. ✗Don’t say: This suggestion is meriting serious consideration.Grammar guide ‒ VERBS