Where does “meritorious” come from?
Meritorious comes from Middle English meritorious, from Latin meritorius, derived from Latin meritus (earned, deserved) and the agent suffix -tor, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)mer- and -tōr.
meritorious (English): Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving...
Definitions
- Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving...
Ancestry of “meritorious”, step by step
meritorious traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English meritorious
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | meritorious | — |
| 2 | Latin | meritorius | Of or pertaining to the earning of money, by... |
| 3 | Latin | -torius | -ory |
| 4 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via Latin meritōrius
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | meritōrius | Of or pertaining to the earning of money, by which money is earned, for which money is paid; hired; meritorious |
| 2 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |