Etymograph

English

merit

Merit comes from Latin meritum ‘that which one deserves, deserts’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to allot, assign’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-‘to allot, assign’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmereō‘to deserve, earn, obtain, merit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritus‘deserved, earned, obtained’perfect passive participle of mereō
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritum‘that which one deserves, deserts’neuter of meritus
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400merit
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-‘to allot, assign’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmereō‘to deserve, earn, obtain, merit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritus‘deserved, earned, obtained’perfect passive participle of mereō
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeritum‘that which one deserves, deserts’neuter of meritus
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400merit
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello: “[R]eputation is an idle and moſt falſe impoſition ,…”

The story

The English word is probably cognate with Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”) and cognate with Old Occitan merit.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to allot, assign’

memory, memorable, memoir, martyr, mourn, memorandum, memorabilia, mora, mer, memoria, 14 more

through Latin mereō ‘to deserve, earn, obtain, merit’

emeritus, 6 more

Another origin of merit

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600meriter‘to merit’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meriten
  3. Englishtodaymerit

The word is cognate with Italian meritare (‘to deserve, merit; to be worth; to earn’), Latin meritāre (‘to earn regularly; to serve as a soldier’), Spanish meritar (‘to deserve, merit; to earn’).

Today it means

noun A claim to commendation or a reward.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- / merit

Shirt and support for this word