[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/merit/) [dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [M](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/m/) / merit # merit noun (merit, merits — a merit; uncountable merit); verb (merit, merits, merited, meriting) «merit» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova. ## Everyday 1. Merit is the quality of being good and deserving praise or a reward. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#m1) 2. The merits of something are its good points. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#m2) 3. (school) A merit is a point, star or certificate a pupil gets for good work or good behaviour. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#m3) 4. To merit something is to deserve it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#m4) ### In the lessons In school, merits are part of reward systems: pupils collect merits for effort, kindness or good homework. In adult life, people are chosen "on merit" when they are picked because they are the best, not because of who they know. In formal writing you "weigh the merits" of ideas. Phrases: "on merit", "merit award", "the merits and drawbacks", "worthy of merit". ### Examples - I got a merit for my story about the dragon. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x1) - Jake has twenty merits this term. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x2) - Each idea has its merits. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x3) - She was chosen for the team on merit, not because her dad is the coach. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x4) - Your drawing merits a place on the wall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x5) - (formal) The proposal was judged on its merits. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x6) - Ten merits earn you a bronze certificate. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x7) - I jumped the highest; but in this world merit seldom meets its reward. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/#x8) ### Note As a quality it is uncountable ("a work of great merit"); as a school reward it is countable ("three merits"). The verb is formal: "This merits a reward" = "This deserves a reward". Adjective: meritorious (formal). In maths problems about merits, they are usually counted like points: if 10 merits make a certificate, 35 merits make 3 certificates with 5 left over. ## In Jewish tradition In Sefer Yetzirah, merit is the good deeds on one side of a scale, set against guilt on the other. In the Psalms, a righteous man's "merit" (his righteousness) lasts for ever. **Interpretation.** The book pictures the letter Aleph, air, as the tongue of the scale. Jewish tradition speaks of the "scale of merit" and says one should judge others favourably. The psalm is read as saying that the good a righteous person does is never lost. ### Examples - In one scale is the merit and in the other criminaHty, which are placed in equilibrium by the tongue. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/merit/#x1) - In one scale \[17\] is the merit and in the other criminality, which are placed in equilibrium by the tongue. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/merit/#x2) - The three first elements, א״מ״ש are typified by a balance, in one scale the merit and in the other the criminality, which are placed in equilibrium by the tongue. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/merit/#x3) - Wealth and riches are in his house; and his merit endureth for ever. (Writings PSA.112.3, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/merit/#x4) ### Note As a quality it is uncountable ("a work of great merit"); as a school reward it is countable ("three merits"). The verb is formal: "This merits a reward" = "This deserves a reward". Adjective: meritorious (formal). In maths problems about merits, they are usually counted like points: if 10 merits make a certificate, 35 merits make 3 certificates with 5 left over. ## On Mova - [Trees and pragmatics of «merit» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/merit/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«merit» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/merit.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «merit» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/merit/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«merit» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/merit.html) on Mova free.