Where does “merit badging” come from?

merit badging (English) comes from English merit badge, from English merit, from Middle English merit, from Anglo-Norman merit, from Old French merite, from Latin meritum, from Latin meritus, from Latin mereō — to fall into thinking, remember, care for; to...

merit badging (English): The act of pursuing merit badges

Definitions

  1. The act of pursuing merit badges

Ancestry of “merit badging”, step by step

merit badging traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English merit badge

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishmerit badgeAn award earned by youth members of the Boy...
2EnglishmeritA claim to commendation or a reward; A mark or...
3Middle Englishmerit
4Anglo-Normanmerit
5Old Frenchmeritemerit
6Latinmeritummerit, service, deserts; value, reward, benefit,...
7Latinmeritusearned, deserved, obtained, due, proper, right,...
8Latinmereōto deserve, merit
9Proto-Indo-European(s)mer-to fall into thinking, remember, care for; to...

via English ing

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishingA meadow, especially a low meadow near a river;...
2Middle Englishing
3Old Englishingmeadow, water meadow, ing
4Old Norseengmeadow
5Proto-GermanicangijōA low lying meadow in a valley or near a river
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂énkoscurve, bend
7Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)mer-Every word from Latin mereōEvery word from Latin meritus