English → Latin
“merit” in Latin
mereōto deserve, merit; to earn, get, obtain, acquire; to serve, to render service to (with ablative of the person or thing idignitāsworth, worthiness, merit, desert; fitness, suitability; rank, status, standing, esteem, dignityvirtūsmanhood, manliness, virility; courage, valor, resoluteness, gallantry; virtue, goodnesslauspraise, glory, repute; fame; approbation, commendationmercēspay, wages, reward; revenue, income; chastisement, punishment, penaltyratiōreason, reasoning, explanation, ground, motive, rationality, rationale, purpose; calculation, account, accounting, reckoprōmōto take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to lightdēmōto remove, take away, or subtract; to withhold, take away, subtract fromcommereōto merit or deserve (fully); to err in, commit an offence or crime, perpetrate; to be guilty of
The English word merit itself goes back to Latin mereō, through meritum.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
merit s.
meritum (that whereby one has deserved well): dignitas, virtus (weight of character): laus (that which is attributed to us as an excellence): merces, -edis; operae pretium (reward deserved): according to merit, merito; pro merito; pro dignitate: a man of great merit, vir praestans virtute (Cic., Off., 2, 12): to commend anything accusative to its merit, ex vero celebrare aliquid (Sall.): the merits of a case, ratio: to lay up a stock of merits, de aliquo optime, praeciare, mirifice merere (☞ merita sibi colligere, parare comparare are not Latin).
merit v.
merere (to earn) mereri (to deserve): promerere (rare): dignum esse aliqua re; demerere; commerere (usually in a bad sense; but demerere in a good sense).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for merit?
- The usual Latin words for “merit” are mereō, dignitās, virtūs; also laus, mercēs, ratiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.