| 1 | English | merit | A claim to commendation or a reward; A mark or... |
| 2 | Middle English | merit | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | merit | — |
| 4 | Old French | merite | merit |
| 5 | Latin | meritum | merit, service, deserts; value, reward, benefit,... |
| 6 | Latin | meritus | earned, deserved, obtained, due, proper, right,... |
| 7 | Latin | mereō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)mer- | to fall into thinking, remember, care for; to... |